Birdman On Idol

Two Go Home

2010-04-15T05:43:00.000-07:00

Andrew Garcia and Katie Stevens get the boot while it should have been Aaron Kelly and Siobhan Magnus. America gets it wrong again !

Top 9 Perform Again

2010-04-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

Last week we had Beatles night which was the 2nd time (or 3rd time since they did it twice in David Cook's season). Now last night they rehash another oldie in Elvis night. I know they did it in Season 4 for the Top 4 which each contestant doing 2 Elvis songs. Ya know what. I can't stand Elvis Presley. I don't like his music. I don't like all these people that love Elvis. I don't like Graceland. I can't stand his miserable daughter Lisa Marie. I can't stand what his wife looks like now (Priscilla). I don't like anything about Elvis. Well, there is one song I like in Suspicious Minds but that's about it. So, let's see how last night's Elvis night went and I bet you didn't know that the return of Glee was following the Idol broadcast.

Adam Lambert, the Rum Tug Tugger, was the mentor for Elvis week. First of all, I don't need to see Adam Lambert's mom sitting next to him wearing a mini skirt. Come on mommy Lambert...but on something a bit less revealing. I don't need to see your legs. Second, what is Adam going to bring to the table as a mentor? He is a young artist who is not that experienced and didn't even win American Idol so how is he going to mentor these kids and tell them what they should do to make their performance better? Anyway, here's how the night went.

Crystal Bowersox is up first doing "Saved" which is a song I've never heard. It's probably a good thing that I never heard the song as it was horrible. But, in a way, it's good that the song was unrecognizable since I didn't even know she was singing an Elvis song. It could have been a Bowersox song for all I knew. She did a great job with it and made it her own (I think.) But, she was in her usual groove, being who she is, and not trying to be someone she isn't. So, a good way to start off the disappointing season and terrible theme with a solid performance. By the way, did you know that Glee was on after 8 more singers? Bet you didn't realize that with Ryan, Randy, talking about it as well as constantly showing the entire cast.

Next up was Andrew Garcia who is in need of a good week after being at the bottom the last few weeks. Andrew goes with one of Elvis' most recognizable songs in "Hound Dog." What a mistake that was as the judges said going with a song so popular. This is one of the Elvis songs that should not be touched as you are not going to improve on this song. Plus, Andrew's performance was quite painful and boring. He showed no emotion or star power with his performance. The ghost of Elvis must have barfed after listening to this. Andrew keeps on disappointing and has never really recaptured that glory from his auditions. He's a lock for Bottom 3 this week or with them getting rid of 2 people, maybe there will be a bottom 4 tonight. But, guess what? Glee is on in a little over an hour !

Tim Urban, the energizer bunny, who just keeps on going and going and going was up next with his version of "Can't Help Falling In Love." This guy is just not a good singer but girls love him. People who hate him and hate American Idol vote for him to make the show look bad. He's a phenomenon just advancing each week and the sad part is that for Tim, he was better than normal but still bad even though the judges thought he was good even though he really wasn't which was their ploy to get the callers to vote off people even worse than him this week. That being said, he was better than he's been but you couldn't pay me to buy a Tim Urban album. He does have a future though. I can see it now. Tim Urban starring in "Boogie Nights 2: Electric Boogoloo."

Now we head over to Lee Dewyze who went with "A Little Less Conversation" which is an Elvis song I loathe but Lee totally changed it up, modernized it, and actually make it a listenable song. The guy is in a groove and is getting better each week. He's doing what David Cook did changing up the song each week, taking the judges comments to heart, and growing as he advances each week. What can ya say. This was Lee's night !

Unfortunately for Aaron Kelly, he had to follow Lee. Aaron sang "Blue Suede Shoes" and it was just horrendous. Simon was right on saying it was a "high school performance." The entire song was awkward. His voice was not right for the song choice and all of his singing and performing flaws came out. This could mark the end of this year's chicken little.

Just when I thought that things couldn't get worse, it did. See Bo Han, which is what I call her was next even though it's really pronounced Sha Vohn. I really hate that name. They announced that she would be doing "Suspicious Minds." OH F**K ! That's the one song from Elvis I like being sung by the contestant this season I can't stand. That sucks. And what she did to the song was beyond comprehension. It was painful. Daughtry had done this song so well in his season. People liked Siobhan when the competition started. I was never on this girl's bandwagon. And finally, it's showing that this girl really has a terrible voice and is one dimensional. All she can do good is yell but she really is a terrible singer. What it comes down to is this: Her voice ain't good. Ya want to hear a good voice? Listen to Lea Michelle on Glee. That's a good voice. Siobhan doesn't come close to that. Bye bye Siobo. Bye bye Siobo. Bye bye Siobo. We hate to see you go. By the way...Glee is coming up soon !

Big Mike, saved last week, had a lot to prove this week. He went with "In The Ghetto" which I've never heard. It wasn't my favorite song as it was a bit boring but he did show that the judges did make the correct decision in saving Mike. He did a solid job and proved that the boy got soul. Mike is in the clear this week.

Katie Stevens hit the stage next with "Baby, What You Want Me To Do". Ya know what I want you to do? Answer: Sing better. Based on some of the other bad singers for the night, the song stood out better than it really was. She's just not polished enough yet as a singer. She's a cute girl but she has zero stage presence and is sometimes pitchy. She really would have benefited if she waited two years before going on Idol but what's done is done. I think she'll be safe for the night but he time is ticking on the show. Guess what? Just one more singer before Glee. Look...they are showing the cast in the audience again !

Casey James gets to end the show with "Lawdy, Miss Clawdy." What the hells song is that? It didn't really matter. He took an obscure Elvis song and made it his own and has now gotten into a hot streak of his own the past few weeks earning the final song of the night. I would have liked a song a bit more memorable but I thought he did a great job with the bad song he chose.

But, I'm glad Elvis night is over. Let's hope we don't hear this theme again for a long time. Two people are going home and I'm going to say that if we have a bottom 4 it will be Aaron, Andrew, Katie, and Siobhan. Going home then is Aaron and Siobhan.

So, a one for the money. A two for the show. Three to get ready. And four to go...watch GLEE !

Until tonight...Birdman Out.

The Save Gets Used

2010-04-08T05:58:00.000-07:00

The bottom three were Big Mike, Aaron Kelly, and Andrew Garcia. You would think that it was going to be Aaron Kelly. However, Ryan hinted that the results were shocking. Big Mike had the lowest vote total and had to sing for his life. And he sure did singing one of the best performances of his entire idol run. So, the judges use the save and Big Mike survives.

And unfortunately, so does Tim Urban.

Top 9 Perform

2010-04-07T05:34:00.000-07:00

Well, the Top 9 were ready to perform songs from Lennon and McCartney. Come on. It was just two years ago when we had Beatles night. Actually, we had TWO weeks of Beatles nights in Season 7. So, just two years later they bring back basically the same theme? Can't we think of something new?

First up is Aaron whom the other contestants call "Yoda." Yoda would be turning over in his swamp after hearing Aaron destroy "The Long and Winding Road." Aaron's version should have been called "The Long and Boring Song." It was sung so slow and so off key. I know he tried to change it up a bit but wow. It was almost as if we were playing a record at the wrong speed. Aaron is a young kid so maybe it's best that he leaves the competition now so he can get in the last two months of school and at least take the S.A.T.s before year end.

Next up was Katie who we find out loves to dance like Beyonce. It's just too bad she can't sing like Beyonce. Katie chooses "Let It Be" which she also does a bit too slow for my liking. It seemed like the judges liked her performance but I wasn't blown away by it. But hey...what the hell do I know. I wish she went with something a bit more upbeat to go with her age but it was definitely a better performance than she had last week. I don't see this girl having a huge career. However, I can see her singing as on one of the Disney "tween" shows.

We then get to hear Andrew which most of the other idols say is so funny. I guess he doesn't show that humor on stage. Andrew goes with "Can't Buy Me Love" and goes with his own version. I like this guy's voice as I have since the beginning. I do agree that it was a bit "corny" as once of the judges mentioned. I thought in the beginning this guy could be a true artist putting his own spin on songs and making them his own but he is just not connecting with the song. I want him to do better as I know he can but it's just not working the way I envisioned. I hope he stays around as I look forward to his performances only to be a bit disappointed.

We then see Big Mike whom the girls say is like a "big teddy bear" the same thing that contestants said about Ruben Studdard. Mike chooses "Eleanor Rigby" which I was upset about since David Cook did an amazing version of this two years ago. How would Mike fare? He did a good job putting an R&B vibe on this Beatles classic. Randy keeps on referring to "Glee" in his comments. I love "Glee" but please stop plugging this show as part of your critique. I would have loved Mike to go with a different song but he did a solid job with the song he had chosen. It wasn't my favorite performance but enough to keep him safe this week.

Front-runner Crystal was next and we see that there is a sign in her town with her name on it. I guess the 108 people in that town will all know who she now. Crystal goes with "Come Together" and does a perfect job with it. I had never heard of a didgeridoo before the performance but I know what one is now. I wasn't distracted by the didgeridoo. I just like saying the word "didgeridoo." Can you say it too? Didgeridoo, didgeridoo, didgeridoo... She is very comfortable on stage and she really knows what she wants to do and how she wants to do it. Her hair looked a bit greasier and dirtier and than normal but I'm used to the trashy look by now. That being said, she's safe.

Poor Tim has to follow Crystal. That's so set up by the producers to try and get rid of this guy already. They tell us that Tim just loves to smile. After all of these weeks, we know he likes to smile. I'm just glad he has nicer teeth than Crystal or the smiling would really annoy me. Tim sings "All My Loving" and I didn't love it but it was better than normal for this guy. His voice just annoys me. I keep on thinking about his "Under My Thumb" performance everytime he sings and it really rubs me the wrong way. That being said, I still don't think Tim Malakar is going home. He's Sanjaya and John Stevens combined. The bad singer and energizer bunny that keeps on ticking.

Now we get to see girl favorite Casey whom the other singers tease about looking like a soap star. Casey has been solid all season but I've been waiting for the WOW from him. Bret Michaels has his "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" and now I think Casey James has his "Jealous Guy." I felt this was his breakout song. It was the best performance of the night and I think the best performance of any Idol contestant this season. This was great. He totally modernized this song and made it his own. He now needs to take this performance and build on it. But, great job !

Following Casey was weird chick Siobhan whom the contestants describe as "interesting" and "weird." But, that's not a surprise. I have problems looking at her. I have problems with her image. I can't stand her voice and how she dresses. I'm not a Siobhan fan. That was solidified with her painfully horrific performance of "Across The Universe" which I loathed. It got even more annoying when Simon asked her why she picked the song and she made some emotional speech about nothing changing her world." I was ready to puke after Siobhan explained it to us. She claims that nothing is going to change her world. WRONG. If she gets the boot at the #9 slot, her world will change as opposed to going further in the competition. I'd love for this girl to go home. She's starting to annoy me the same way that Allison Irritating did last season.

Finally Lee gets a chance to end the show coming off an amazing performance last week. We learn that Lee is a big worrier. However, after his version of "Hey Jude", I don't think he has to worry anymore. Not sure about the bagpiper and I'm so glad I'm not Scottish as I could never pull off the kilt. But as for the performance and singing, it was top notch. I have no complaints about Lee and he's on a hot streak right now and I hope he continues doing things the right way.

So, who goes home? I'd have to say that the bottom three should be Aaron, Andrew, and Tim. I hope I'm wrong on one of these with Siobhan being in the bottom. But, I'm gonna say that Aaron's ride ends tonight.

Until then...Birdman Out.

Eliminated in the 10 Spot is...

2010-04-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

It's about time already !

Top 10 Perform

2010-03-31T05:35:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad I was on vacation last week where I didn't write anything about one of the worst weeks in Idol History. There were at least four candidates who were beyond horrible but thankfully, Paige's time was up. Not sure what she was even doing in the Top 12 anyway.

Well, now it's a new week for the Top 10 to redeem themselves with R&B/Soul night with Usher as the mentor. How will they do? Let's find out.

Siobhan was first to kick off the show. I still don't get this girl. I've not been a fan of hers since the Top 24 was announced. I just don't think she's a good singer even though she can do that scream at the end of songs ala Adam Lambert. The difference is that Lambert was a good singer throughout the song and could pull off the yell. Siobhan is not a good singer, has a decent yell, but it all doesn't come together. The perfect example was in last night's "Through The Fire" by Chaka Kahn which she destroyed. I didn't even like her yell last night either. I don't think she'd even yell well if she was getting stabbed by an ice pick. The game's up Siobhan. American now sees exactly what you are - a singer in the Village that attracts maybe a hundred or so people in a drunken bar. That's your future. I hope she can deal with that fate.

Next up was Casey going with Sam and Dave's "Hold On, I'm Coming." I liked Casey's performance. If finally showed that he's much better than Bucky Covington. I wish Casey had a better stage presence. He just stands there most of the time with his guitar and sings and smiles. I know girls love him so I guess the smile works in his favor. I think at one point of the song he even muffed the lyrics but covered it up pretty well. I think Casey has gotta get back to his roots. He needs to do an all out rock song and rip off his shirt like he did in the auditions. I could care less about seeing his chest but I think that could create some buzz and continue to garner the teenage girl vote. But, it was a solid job for Casey.

Big Mike was next to show off his chops going with India.Arie’s “Ready for Love. First of all, I'm not an India Arie fan. I had no clue what this song was. It was a boring song. I'm not even sure if Mike sang the song like India or made his own version. He sang the song great but it actually bored me a bit. I would have liked something with more emotion and a bit more upbeat since this was R&B night. He could have chosen a song by Johnny Gill or Joe which he could have put his own spin on. However, despite the snooze fest of a song, he did a good job with a poor song choice.

We then get to hear the sing-talker in Didi going with the Temptations "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted." Yes, I know the song has meaning for Didi. However, if you want to show emotion, you still have to sing the song well. This was the kind of performance you see in movies when a bad singer sings and glass shatters. It really was hurting my eardrum. Then, to top it off, she was boring on stage. She had no connection with the audience or the microphone. She claims she wanted to "sing something that moved her." Well, that performance may have "moved" her from the Top 10 back to her hometown. It really was horrific.

Tim, or "Telfon Tim" as they now call him took the stage next to sing Anita Baker's "Sweet Love" which was just as bad as his "Under My Thumb" from two weeks ago. Tim is totally this year's Sanjaya - the bad singer with awful hair that keeps on defying the odds and advancing further than his voice should have taken him. Girls will vote for him. People who think he sucks will vote for him. His parents and friends will vote for him. Dirk Diggler's porn friends will vote for him. The deaf will vote for him. So, Simon said it best that it just doesn't matter how good or bad time sings. That being said, let's move on to the next contestant.

We then get to see Andrew who we are still waiting to top his Paula song and he may have done it with girlfriend beater, Cris Brown's "Forever." It actually felt like Andrew was singing forever as I was not a fan of the song but I thought he did it well. I liked Andrew from the beginning and didn't hate his songs as much as the judges the first few weeks but then again, I was a huge fan of Scott MacIntyre which I'm still getting killed about. But, Andrew had it going last night. He has a unique voice and his fate will be made by song choice. If he continues to make smart song decisions, he can advance at least half way to the Top 6 slot. I'm not sure what Andrew's mom said in Spanish but for Andrew's sake, hopefully it was positive.

Katie was up next going with Aretha Franklin's "Chain Of Fools." This is such a keroeke song but it was definitely better than she's done the last few weeks. However, I do believe that Suri, ooops, I mean Katie is out of her league. She needed a few more years to polish her craft and become a more rounded singer. However, she's cute and not the worst so I think she has a few more weeks left in her.

Then comes Lee going with a song by the Cornelius Brothers called "Treat Her Like A Lady." Who the hell are the Cornelius Brothers? This reminded me of when Bo Bice sang a song called "Vehicle" that I had never heard before and he nailed it. Lee had that same fate. He did a great job with a song that no one had ever heard before and could have a hit with it. It was one of the better rock performances I've seen and Simon was right in saying that Lee's life could have changed with last night's performance. It was really that good. He showed that he can be a rocker and wow us. He did just that with one of the best performances of the season.

So, front-runner Crystal was next trying to shock us by not using the guitar and going the piano route with Gladys Knight's "Midnight Train To Georgia." At the piano, it was a bit awkward as she seemed to concentrate too much on pressing the right keys but once she got up from the piano to sing, Crystal was in her groove. It was definitely not my favorite Crystal performance but she showed that she's one of the best singers this season. That being said, I do hope she goes back to the guitar next week.

Finally, it's Aaron ending the show with Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine." I remember how well Christina Christian sang this song in Season 1. Aaron didn't do nearly as good with his version. I though his performance was "Eh." It wasn't great. It didn't suck. It was just there. It was one of those performances you'll never remember after this week. That being said, I think there was a lot worse so he should be safe another week.

So, how goes home? The bottom three has got to be Didi and Tim. But, who will the third person be? I'm going to say it's Siobhan. However, I think Didi's time is finally up.

Until tomorrow, Birdman Out.

And Then There Were 11

2010-03-18T05:37:00.000-07:00

The first season of Idol we only had a Top 10 and the first person booted was EJ Day. From there, Idol went to a Top 12 format. In the past 7 seasons, 5 of the 7 contestants eliminated first had been a girl. Joining Vanessa Oliveraz, Leah LaBelle, Lindsey Cardinale, Melissa McGhee, and Jasmine Murray is Lacey Brown who got the boot last night. (Note: The two guys in seasons 6 and 7 were Brandon Rogers and David Hernandez respectively.)

What do you remember about these people? I can't tell you much except that David Hernandez was a male stripper. So, it's no shock that Lacey Brown goes home. There's not much to remember about here nor did anyone lose sleep about her departure.

It's still shocking that the cat with nine lives, Tim Urban, aka Dirk Diggler, survives again. Tim Urban is this year's John Stevens. He's the guy with the terrible voice that continues to defy the odds to remain in the competition.

If I was a betting man, Tim survives again next week to make it into the Top 10 and be part of the summer tour. Oye. Anyone paying for this summer's tour must not have anything better to do this summer.

So, we say good-bye to Lacey Brown. It was nice knowing you. I'm sure we won't see you anytime soon.

Hope to catch ya next week. Until then...Birdman Out.

Top 12 Finally Perform

2010-03-17T05:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, before I get into last night's performances, let me briefly touch on last week's eliminations as I was on my death bed sick as a dog and couldn't think of typing anything.

As we know, both Todrick and Alex were given the boot. Personally, both of these guys are better than Aaron Kelly and Tim Urban. As for the girls, we lost Lilly and Katelyn. I could care less about Lilly. She's a bitter person and can have a miserable life performing at her county fairs. As for Katelyn, she got screwed. She had the look and the voice and it's shocking that she lost out to some of the people we are stuck with like Paige, Didi and Katie. But, the highlight of the night was the duet between Scott MacIntyre and Matt Giraud singing Billy Joel. Watch out world...Scotty Mac is gonna be big.

So, let's see how things went down now that we are at the real part of this competition already.

The theme for the night is The Rolling Stones. Now, I'm not a Rolling Stones fan. So, after watching last night's performances, I'm not sure if the Rolling Stones are really bad OR if no one can really pull off a Mick Jagger song. It's probably a combination of both.

First up on the big stage is Big Mike. Mike, this season's Ruben Studderesque teddy bear, sent with "Miss You." This wasn't my favorite Lynche performance. I though he was much better the past two weeks. He sang the song well but his dancing on stage was a bit amateurish. But, Mike got soul and he'll sail through to the next week with ease.

Next up is Didi Benami. Or, she could do what Megan Joy Corkery did last year and drop her last name. Before ya know it, she's just gonna be Didi. Didi is a pretty girl and there are times I think she can sing and there are times where her voice wants me to grab one of the wife's tampons and stick them in my ear to absorb the bleeding. Didi went with "Play With Fire" and it was boring. Think about it. Do you even remember this performance last night? She spoke half of the song. Sung a quarter of the song. And there was another quarter of the song that was just plain bad. Shockingly, the judges didn't hate her performance. She may just get a bit deeper ala Brooke White / Megan Joy based on looks alone.

Casey James was next doing his version of "It's All Over Now." Well, it's far from over for Casey James. He's got the girls vote right where he wants it. If Bucky Covington can go to the Top 8, then Casey can go much further than that. I'm just not sure if Casey is a country star or a rock star. What I love is watching Kara watch Casey. Her husband must love seeing his wife drool over some kid. Personally, I think Casey is good and I really have no issues with the guy. I do agree with Simon that he needs to do more on the stage and be a star instead of just standing there strumming his guitar.

Lacey Brown now gets her turn and chose "Ruby Tuesday" which was appropriate since the performance was on a Tuesday night. I'm not a Lacey fan. Her sing / talking is just not good. I don't like that sound. I don't like her voice of lack thereof. Lacey is a forgettable person. Do you remember Leah LaBelle or Melissa McGhee? These were forgettable girls in the Top 12 from prior seasons. They are all forgettable. Lacey may not be the first to go but she still falls into this forgettable category.

Andrew Garcia hits the stage next and went up there with out his guitar to do "Gimme Shelter." It was the first time we've seen Andrew sing a song NOT buy a girl. Personally, not a fan of the song and I think he does better when he sings a song by a girl and makes it his own. Unfortunately, with it being Rolling Stones week, he had no choice but to sing a dude song. I like this Garcia kid. I think he has potential to do that WOW song again but this surely wasn't a WOW. It was an "EHHHH." But, I do hope he sticks around as I think he's one of those contestants that can be average one week and blow us away the next week.

We then get to see Katie Stevens version of "Wild Horses." Simon pointed out that he had a hit with this song by Susan Boyle. Whoop De Doo. You couldn't pay me to buy a Susan Boyle CD. Katie is over her head in this competition. When she's on stage, I feel like she's performing in her high school talent show. Katie has a nice voice but she's always pitchy. It's a shame she's in the competition this year as I feel she's do better if she was in this competition two years from now. I think one of the wild horses may have had a stroke after hearing this version of the song.

Oye. Now we hear Tim Urban. Tim goes with reggae version of "Under My Thumb." What was under my thumb was the fast forward button on the remote control. This was one of the worst performances of the night by far. The reggae version didn't work. He doesn't have the voice. I look at him and all I see is Dirk Diggler. Tim's time could be up.

The crazy Siobhan is next doing her version of "Paint It Black." She bored me through the first 80% of the song and then she want Adam Lambert the last part of the song to wow the judges. Personally, I thought the performance from beginning to end was horrendous. It seemed very keroeke to me and then that yell at the end solidified why I really don't get excited by this girl. She's a bar performer. Who's rushing to the store to buy the new Siobhan album?

Lee Dewyze's turn was now. Lee needs to get some personality and quick. He's worked in a paint store but talking to him as about as entertaining as watching paint dry. Lee's song choice is perfect for him in "Beast of Burden." Lee's got the perfect rocker voice ala Daughtry and David Cook. So, he's got the voice in his favor. For him to go really deep, we'll need him to continue to pick good songs and to get some personality or he'll turn into an early exit like Michael Sarver.

On the stage next is Paige Miles. I feel like she's so overrated. Simon keeps on praising her voice. I must be deaf. I don't like her voice or her Lawrence Taylor look or her stage presence. Do you remember Jasmine Murray from last year? I feel that Paige has similar talent to her and Jasmine was the first to go as part of the Top 12 (or 13 last year). Paige went with "Honky Tonk Woman" and now sure what she was doing. Was she singing a country version of this song? What was wrong with her voice; it was worse than normal. I think we need to turn the page on Paige.

Aaron Kelly, from his small town was next. Maybe one week they'll do Mellencamp week and he can sing "I was born in a small town..." I'm just not getting Aaron. Is this a CD you'd run out to buy? Do you remember the young John Stevens who made it to #6 in Season 3? John was much better than this kid and the John stank. Kevin Covias was even better than Aaron and he wasn't that good. I don't like bashing 16 year old kids but his voice is just not strong enough. And, his poor mother who's name is Kelly Kelly. I would NEVER marry or date a person who's last name was the same name as my first name. I guess that's what happens in small towns when there are only 50 people to chose from to date. Anyway, Aaron sung "Angie" and Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I was ready to fall asleep.

The show ended on the right foot with the always miserable, sour puss - Crystal Smellysocks. This girl has a problem. She looks like she doesn't want to be there and sing these songs but knows deep down that she has to go through the motions to try to win this competition. She'll be a miserable winner if she does indeed win American Idol as she'll never want to make the music that she'd be required to make. Just put a smile on Crystal and enjoy the ride you are on. She sings "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and by far was the best performance of the night. She just needs to continue what she's doing and loosen up a bit and not be so serious. A smile would be nice but not a big smile so we see your teeth.

So, who goes home? I'm gonna say that the bottom three will be Tim, Aaron,and Paige. And going home will be Tim.

Not sure if I'll be writing next week as I'm on vacation but we'll see if I can make time. For now, Birdman Out.

Top 8 Boys Perform

2010-03-11T05:59:00.001-08:00

After the girls the night before, would this night be worse? The answer is a big NO but still, nothing really excited me until the end. Anyway, here's how it went.

Lee kicks off the big night with Owl City's "Fireflies." I think he had some nervous butterflies during this performance. Don't get me wrong. I thought he did an ok job and good enough to advanced but it sure didn't blow me out of the water. He's got a great voice but this song was terrible and he can do much better than what he showed us.

Alex Lambert was next up with is Carol Brady hair / mullet thingy he's got going. This guy really bores me but when I look at him sing but I do agree with the judges that he has a good voice. He's just dull as far as I'm concerned. He bores us with Ray LaMontagne's "Trouble" and Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Okay...I'm awake. It's boring. This guy has as much personality as a wet rag. Maybe he was singing the song in his sleep while standing there on stage. This snoozer of a performance puts Mr. Lambert on the bubble.

The just as boring Tim Urban was up next singing a song I can't stand in "Hallelujah." If you want to be able to pull of a song like this, you need to be a really good singer. Unfortunately for Tim, he's not that person. While he maybe did better than I thought he was going to do, I was overly distracted by his Peter Brady hair comb. He looked like such a dork up there and just has absolutely zero start power and stage presence that he can't go much further. The judges thought it was Tim's best performance so far but when you stink week after week, that doesn't say much. I still think Tim could be on the bubble tonight.

Next was a bit interesting in Andrew Garcia singing Christina Aguilara's "Genie in a Bottle." Wow...this take a set of balls to pull off but I thought it was a great song choice to try to recapture the "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul. I totally disagreed with the judges. I thought he totally pulled it off. He made it is own. It was original. It was risky. I thought parts of the song were pitchy but the originality of his performance overrode how well he actually sung it. This guy deserves to be in the Top 12 and I hope the judges negative comments don't deprive him of that chance.

Casey James hit the stage next with Keith Urban's "You'll Think Of Me." Not sure why Casey went pure country. I think he can do better with a pop/rock song as to the Bucky Covington country route. He did a better than average job with an annoying song but wanted more from him. He's a lock for the Top 12 since girls love him and he is a good singer but who is this guy? Is he a country singer, a rock singer, or a pop star? If he keeps on singing these bad country songs, he'll be none of the above and will be stuck taking off his shirt for magazines for girls to drool over.

Pool little Aaron Kelly now had is turn going with Lonestar's "I'm Already There." If he thinks he's already there, then it's time to go home as you aren't quite there yet. I thought the performance was horrendous. It was off pitch vocally and he seemed nervous. I think he's a lock to be eliminated tonight.

Now comes Todrick Hall who has continued to be ripped by the judges but continues to advance. He goes with Queen's "Somebody To Love" and nailed it. He brought soul to the song. He showed he can do this. His stage presence and emotion carried over to the song as he put on a great performance to go with the solid vocals. This was long overdue from Todrick and I'm happy to say that he'll be in the Top 12 after this huge night for him.

Finally, we get to see Big Mike end the show. He goes with Maxwell's "This Woman's Work" and this man had it working. He put on for the second straight week one of the best performances of the season and went from an early exit to now a projected male front runner. This was great. He had great vocals and actually was feeling the lyrics as he was into it. It's what one would call "gettin' down." It was the perfect final performance before the Top 12 is announced tonight and Big Mike will be part of that group for sure.

So, for the first time, I think the boys had a better night than the girls.

Who goes home? Definitely Aaron Kelly is the first.

However, the 2nd person could be tight. I hope it's not Andrew Garcia as I think he's good. So, I'm gonna go with either Alex Lambert or Tim Urban. These two guys are interchangeable. For shits and giggles, let's say Tim Urban goes home.

Until then...Birdman Out.

Top 8 Girls Perform

2010-03-10T08:47:00.000-08:00

It was the biggest night of their lives with two more girls going home this week to get us our top 6 girls. And guess what happened? They killed Corey Haim. The singing was so bad that they made him take more drugs than he normally would have taken and there ya go...he's dead. And I'm sure he wasn't the only one who killed himself last night after listening through this. I was just glad that it was only one hour.

So, here's how it went:

Katie started of the show with the ultimate NO NO singing a former Idol's hit song in Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway." Katie's version was quite different where as Kelly turned it into a hit song, Katie turned it into a utter mess. Yeah, she's young and she did listen to the judges to pick a younger song but this wasn't the song to pick. Her voice was all over the place. I needed to breakaway from the TV after hearing how the show started.

So, I was hoping that the show would get better with Siobhan singing "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals. The judges stated that she didn't have a big moment like last week. However, they should have said that she didn't have ANY moment. It was painfully boring. I was ready to put needles into my eyeballs while watching this. Some people think this girl is great. I personally think she is greatly overrated. Who's running to the local music store to buy the Siobhan debut besides her cousins?

Up next is Lacey looking like Pat Benetar and singing Brandi Carlile's "The Story." And that was exactly what it was. She was up there telling a story instead of singing a story. This sing/talk thing that these contestants keep on doing has become annoying. We first saw it last year with Megan Joy and she stank. Now, everyone is going that sing/talk route and it's just not good. Unfortunately, based on the judges comments, she may be around as they thought it was one of her best performances. I must need a hearing aid.

Next up we get my gal Katelyn with her bushy hair going with Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move." I would have liked a better song as it was a bit cheesy for what she was supposed to be doing but what I like about this girl is that when she does pick the right song, she can sing. It may not have been her best performance last night and I hope not her last but song choice is key for this girl who can go much further if she plays her cards right. Still, last night's mess was better than most of the other contestants as far as I was concerned.

Another sing/talker had her turn in Didi going with Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon." Not one of my favorite songs and the talk singing is really annoying me. However, the judges claim she did a much better job than she's been doing. This is what you call a "judges save." They want to have the best Top 6 girls and by giving her positive comments helps sway the votes for her to give some of the worse girls less votes thus eliminating them. She really wasn't nearly that good and what the judges like as well as people calling in is that she's pretty and gets the good look vote. That's all. She really can not sing. That's for shit sure. Kara said it was her "favorite moment all season." So, she's basically told us that we've been watching crap for the last few months.

Paige, "I Look Like LT" Miles is up next going with Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" and the second she started singing, all "smiles' in the audience went to frowns. Holy crap. A terrorist should use this performance and play it over and over when they capture a hostage. That would the worst torture ever. I don't know what else to say about this except, "Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na...Hey Hey Hey...GOOD-BYE !"

Finally, it's Crystal's turn. She goes with "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman and was the first and only one of the night to nail it. She's comfortable with the guitar. She's comfortable on stage. She's maybe not comfortable in the dentist chair but the porcelain veneers are coming...I promise ! And this girl can flat out sing and change up a song and make it her own. She's really the only girl worth of continuing based on the evening's performances.

And then comes Lilly to end the show. I thought, "on no...she's gonna do a good job since she's last." However, she went the talk/sing route and destroyed Patsy Cline's "I Fall To Pieces." I've been watching Idol since the beginning and it's been VERY rare, I could probably count on one hand, how many times I've fast forwarded a performance. And mid-way through Lilly's performance, I couldn't stand it any longer and hit the FF button. I needed to get to the end. The judges thought she didn't have any "wow factor". That's an understatement. There wasn't ANY factor in the song. It was just painfully boring. I think I'd rather read Shakespeare than hear this again and I can't freggin' stand Shakespeare.

So, that was our crappy show. Paige is a lock to go home. I'm guessing the other will be Katie. Who knows. Who really cares. Surly not Corey Haim.

Until the boys, Birdman Out.

Next 4 Eliminated

2010-03-05T05:54:00.000-08:00

Looks like I was right on the money with John Park and Jermaine Sellers.

And right on the money with Haeley Vaughn.

However, I did think that Michelle Delamor would sneak by and either Lacey Brown or Didi Benami would go home.

So, with just 4 more to go home next week before the Top 12, these four people should be:

- Lacey Brown
- Didi Benami
- Tim Urban
- Aaron Kelly

Until Next Week...Birdman Out

Top 10 Girls Perform

2010-03-04T05:50:00.000-08:00

It was the girls turn to go and since Crystal Smellysox caused the switcheroo of girls to boys, it was right that they had Crystal kick off the show.

I know I've been hard on Crystal. I hate her hideous teeth. I can recommend a GREAT dentist for her in Livingston. I hate her dirty hair/dreads. I can recommend a great shampoo. I hate that stupid thing under her lip but above her chin. But, there is one thing I don't hate and that's her voice. She is hands down a better performer, singer, and artist than any of the other 9 girls and that became obvious after her rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Long As I Can See The Light" which she rocked while on the guitar. When you hear her sing, you don't notice all of her imperfections and the staff's stylists are making her look a bit more appealing each week. Crystal will be around for a long time so I guess by the end, she may even be good looking.

So, we go from the high of Crystal to the low of Haeley Vaughn. I think the judges thought they had the next big country star when they put Haeley in the Top 24. I hope the judges realize that they are wrong. This is NOT Haeley Underwood or Haeley Swift. She's basically Haeley Wrong. As she got on stage looking exactly like Dee from What's Happening, she utterly destroyed Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" with every verse she attempted to sing with her lisp. The judges claim she's too young and needs more time. Time wont help this girl. She's not born to be a professional singer. Even if I saw her sing on a cruise or in a theme park, I think I'd walk out. That's how bad it is. Yeah, maybe she can be a star in her high school play but that's about as far as it will go. The only thing appealing about her voice is when she's silent. This girl needs to go home...NOW !

Up next was Lacey Brown. I'm not sure I get this girl's voice ala Megan Joy. It's supposed to be singing but it's more like talking and squealing. Maybe she should try out for voice-over work for the next Chimpmunks sequel. She sings "Kiss Me" and while it may be better than last week, it's still just not good. She really just doesn't have a good voice so no matter what the judges say as their critique, it's not going to matter if you are not a great singer. I look for Lacey to be one of the candidates to go home this week.

We then get to see Katie Stevens who looks a bit like Suri Cruise. Katie is cute but who cares that she can say "give me a kiss" in 8 languages? So what. She's an international slut? Is this relevant information that we need? Anyway, she goes with "Put Your Records On" by Corinne Bailey Ray and does an okay job with it. I thought it wasn't as good as she was last week but since there are others that are so bad, it actually made the song maybe sound better than it was when comparing apples to apples. I think she'll be safe due to poor performances from the other girls.

Then came Didi Benami who's twin in Jannell Wheeler got the boot last week. Didi sang Bill Withers' "Lean On Me" which I thought was not a great song choice. I feel about Didi the same what I did about Brooke White - who cares? I actually closed my eyes and if someone didn't tell me who was singing, I wouldn't know if it was Lacey Brown or Didi Benami. So, that being said, Didi becomes on the bubble for her poor performance of a keroeke song.

Michelle Delamor was next to sing. She picks a interesting song in Creed's "With Arms Wide Open" and while it was unique and original for the first second, it went right down hill after that first line. I like that she tried to change it up and would have loved to have heard Jordin Sparks do this song back in her year but Michelle's version just wasn't strong enough. She was pitchy and couldn't come close to hitting the high notes. I think she'll still squeak by this week based on her looks and the fact that it was better than others.

Lilly Scott now had her turn. I'm SO not a fan. She's Allison Irritating with platinum hair. She's an ugly Ann Jillian. Her hair looks like what my mom used to use to clean the blinds. You know...that duster thing that's on a plastic stick? She sings Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and ya know what, I just don't like it despite the judges praise. This girl is this year's "I Just Don't Get It" girl. I don't care what she sings. I don't like her voice. I don't like her personality. She annoys me. She looks awkward on the stage. She's a village girl. She can sing on Bleeker or Houston any day of the week as long as I'm not in attendance but on stage for American Idol doesn't quite do it to me. I almost got up to suck a TUMS after she sang. But, it looks like she'll be around for a bit. How annoying. I loved when Randy compared Lilly to Bjork. That's great Randy...Bjork sucks too !

On the stage next was Katelyn Epperly. I thought Katelyn did a solid job and surprised me last week. I thought she did even better this week with Coldplay's "The Scientist" while at the piano. She's a cute girl and it's not often when you see the female at the piano as Brooke White used to do. I thought she showed off that she has a great voice and could be a dark horse to go deep in this competition. She'll get better each week and with her looks and personality, I think she'll be around for a bit. Yeah, I wish she picked up the pace of the song a bit but I thought she did a great job.

Then we get to see Paige Miles who looks like Lawrence Taylor's off-spring. She did what I hate when people do; pick a song made famous by a prior idol contestant. She chose to sing Kelly Clarkson's "Walk Away" and I walked out during the performance to get the bag of chocolate from the freezer as a snack. Actually...I'm wrong. I did that during Lacy's performance. I went upstairs during this performance to put the pacifier back in the baby's mouth and didn't even waste my time hitting on the remote. So, it was justified. She sang "Walk Away" and I did just that. With Paige not getting any footage in the auditions, not sure if her fan base or lack thereof will keep her alive much longer. She's definitely on the bubble tonight.

Finally we get to hear Siobhan or Chevon; sounds like a gas station to me. She is another girl that is destined for greatness in small clubs in the East or West village. When they showed footage of Siobhan with a mohawk, it didn't surprise me but it was quite disturbing. Does she think that looked good? What's the statement she's making by shaving off her hair? The statement from my perspective is that she looks ridiculous. She went with Aretha Franklin's "Think" and I thought that I really didn't like it until the last 20 seconds of the song when she went Adam Lambert on us with one big note to save her ass. If you take away that one note, she's on the bubble for this keroeke performance but that ending saved her for sure.

So, who's going home. The worst of the night as far as I'm concerned was Haeley followed by Lacey Brown and then Didi Benami. So, it should be any of these three. I'm gonna say Lacey survives again and I'm gonna go with Haeley and Didi.

Until tomorrow, Birdman Out.

Top 10 Guys Perform

2010-03-03T05:43:00.001-08:00

The Top 10 girls were supposed to perform but with Crystal Bowersox having been rushed to the hospital, the guys were up. They didn't say what happened to Crystal but I'm guessing it was due to malnutrition from years of eating canned foods in her trailer park just caught up with her.

So, here's how the guys played out:

First up is Big Mike Lynche singing James Brown's "This Is A Man's World." I'm not a fan of the song but Mike got into it. He showed off his chops getting down and giving us some well need soul. Hell, I'll book this performance on Soul Train any day. He did a great job and showed that is not the next Ruben Studdard and can be his own artist. If he sings like this one more week, he's in the Top 12. It was a great way to kick off the show.

We then went for the high of Michael to the low of John Park who has gotta be the stunt double for John Cho in the Harold and Kumar movies. John doesn't have a terrible voice; he just doesn't know how to sing. He told us that English was his second language so he probably would have been better off singing a song in Korean. He sings a song by that dick, John Mayer, called "Gravity." It wasn't a good song choice for his voice. It wasn't good singing. You know the history of the Billboard charts how well Asians have done. Actually, after doing some research, I was wrong. Back in 2006 there was a girl named Adrienne Lau who debuted at #16 on the charts. Who knew. I never heard of her. Probably most have you haven't either. I don't believe John Park will be the 2nd to make the charts.

Next up was Casey James who continues to make Kara drool. She is making jokes of it but she stares at him with her "F**K ME" eyes. Anyway, I think Casey is going far and is one of better guys in the competition but he picked a song that so many other idols have sung in the past singing "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw. It still is a great song choice for his voice but I know that Bo Bice, Chris Richardson, and Elliot Yamin each did this song and I'm sure others have as well that I can't even remember. Also, they need to so something with this Bucky Covington hair...put it in a ponytail or something. Anyway, despite all of that, this guy can sing. If you close your eyes, you can totally hear this guy on the radio. Plus, the fact that he's doing it with a guitar can make him a star. It surely doesn't hurt that girls love this guy. He has nothing to worry about this week for sure.

Then we get to see the always nervous Alex Lambert perform. The idol staff need to fix this guy's mullet or odd hair comb. He has no stage presence but if you close your eyes, he sort of sounds a bit like a young Rod Stewart. When I open my eyes, I can't stand it but with my eyes closed, the guy's voice is actually pretty good for parts of the song. He sings John Legend's "Everybody Knows" and I was pleasantly surprised. He definitely needs to work on his image and stage presence but he's someone that could get better each week. I just wish I didn't have to look at him. Maybe he could perform like the Unknown Comic and sing with a brown paper bag over his face.

Todrick Hall was next to take the stage. They showed Todrick as a kid dancing in "The Nutcracker." I hate the "Nutcracker." Todrick has this thing about taking a GIRL song and putting his own spin on it. Last week he changed up a Kelly Clarkson song. This week he went with a Tina Turner song called "What's Love Got To Do With It." When I hear this song, most guys can think of one thing - Tina's legs in the video. So, not sure if this was the right song choice for Todrick. He may have nice legs but I don't want to see them and thankfully, he didn't show them. Anyway, I did like the way he changed it up again but the judges think he's changing it up too much. Not sure whey they are so on this guy's back with changing up the songs. In the past, they'd praise any singer who could change up a song like this but for some reason they are not liking what he does. Todrick has a great voice. I hope he stays another week and takes their advice and just sings a song and not change it up at all. And make sure that the song is a GUY song. This way, he can show that he does have the voice to remain in this competition. I got your back Todrick.

Then came Jermaine Sellers, a Todrick twin. These guys are interchangeable except for the fact that Todrick can sing and Jermaine can not. Jermaine uses a steam mask before performing to loosen up his voice. Maybe he should try some other approach as this approach is surely not working. Jermaine sings Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On" which is such a Kereoke song. Who hasn't heard this in college a zillion times on an Open Mic Night. Come on Jermaine. You have millions of people watching and you destroy this song? His voice was all over the place and it was just off. He didn't put any emotion into the song and it was like he was just going through the motions. Hey Jermaine...what's going on? What's going on? Yeah, What's going on? Jermaine needs to go back to his church to do some praying as he's on the bubble this week.

Andrew Garcia is up next singing James Morrison's "You Give Me Something" and puts a bit of his own spin on the song. It wasn't my favorite Garcia performance but it was more than enough to keep him in this competition. He needs to pick a better song but he still sang the song great and has a unique voice. The judges keep on talking about how good his "Straight Up" was but he's not going to sing that song again. Let's get over the whole "Straight Up" thing and judge him based on what he did. And compared to most of the evening's contestants, he was still one of the better singers despite not being one of his better performances.

We then get to hear Aaron Kelly. He chooses another Kereoke song in the Temptations' "My Girl." I actually didn't agree with the judges saying he was better this week. I thought he was much better last week. He totally sounded like Kevin Covias this week and that's not that great. I still think he has that little girl vote, the same girls that make the pathetic Justin Bieber a star. So, Aaron Kelly could squeak by this week but he needs to get much better in next week's pivotal performance.

We then get Tim Urban who somehow survived over Tyler Grady last week. When I watch Tim Urban, all I see is Dirk Diggler. When I hear Tim Urban, all I think of is when the song is going to end or when I'm going to hit the fast forward button on the DVR. Ellen even said to Tim that he would be good on Glee. PLEASE...that better NEVER happen. The Glee singers could sing circles around this guy. Simon shockingly, actually liked Tim's performance thus shocking Tim after his rendition of "Come On, Get Higher" by Matt Nathanson. I surely didn't get it so maybe I need to get a Q-Tip and clean out the ear wax.

Finally, they saved Lee Dewyze for the end. Lee is a total dark horse as he got so little play in the auditions but for two straight weeks, he was one of the more dominant male singers. He went with Hinder's "Lips of an Angel" and it sounded like it could totally be on the radio right now. He needs a little work on the stage but as for his voice, he's this year's rocker and could battle it out later in the competition against Casey James. A great way to end the show.

So, based on the night, I'm going to say that Jermaine Sellers and John Park are going home.

Until tomorrow night, Birdman Out.

First 4 Eliminated

2010-03-02T05:45:00.000-08:00

In the biggest upset in the first elimination in Idol History, Ashely Rodriguez gets the boot. She was not only one of my favorites to go deep but the Vegas Odds Makers had her going to Top 5 as well. WOW ! A total shocker ! As for the other 3, I'm fine with even though I thought Lacey Brown was much worse. Until next week...Birdman Out !

Top 12 Guys Perform

2010-02-25T06:56:00.000-08:00

And I thought girls night was bad. Amazingly, I thought Men's night was maybe even worse. Here are my thoughts:

First to hit the stage was Todrick Hall. I mostly HATE it when someone sings a song made famous by a previous Idol winner. However, in this case it was a guy putting a total new spin on a girl's song in Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone." I totally disagreed with the judges. I loved the fact that he took a hit pop song and made it unrecognizable. I almost felt like it was Bobby Brown singing Kelly Clarkson. I thought it was original, unique, and set in apart from the other contestants as taking a risk. It was no different than Andrew Garcia putting his own spin on Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" in the auditions. So, despite the judges harsh words, I thought it was a great start for the men.

Next up was Aaron Kelly, the little 16 year old who is a cross between Kevin Covias (aka Chicken Little) and David Archuletta. I really thought he was going to stink up the stage like a rancid fart. However, I was completely wrong. He went with Rascal Flatts' "Here Comes Good-bye" which I heard this morning that it was co-written by Season 6's Chris Sligh. Interesting huh? Anyway, it was a great choice of song and he sang 80% of the song great with 20% having pitch problems. However, the 80% outweighed the 20% and I was pleasantly surprised by how well he did. He'll get the teenage girl vote too.

Hitting the stage next was Jermaine Sellers, the church singer. He went with Oleta Adams "Get Here" which was done great in season 1 by Justin Guarini. Unfortunately for Jermaine Sellers, the late Peter Sellers could have done a better job singing this song. His voice was all over the place. I had much higher expectations from Jermaine after his "Man In The Mirror" audition but this was like a soiled diaper - a total mess. Jermaine could be in major trouble after this disaster.

Then comes Tim Urban who replaced Chris Golightly at the last minute. First of all, I can't stand Tim's Danny Bonaduce hair. We are in the 2000's and his hair looks like it's out of the 70's. Anyway, after hearing Tim destroy One Republic's "Apologize", it was obvious that he has NO relation to Keith Urban. Every time in the song where he needed to hit the high note, he was off. Maybe he should have gotten high to maybe try and hit the high note but we won't be saying HI to Tim; we'll be saying "good-bye" very soon.

Joe Munoz gets his turn to sing to America. The staff needs to trim his eyebrows. It looks like he has two caterpillars starring at each other above his eyes. Joe sings "You and I Both" by Jason Mraz. This was just not anything to remember. If I didn't tell you just now what song he sung, would you have even remembered? I've heard worse but this guy has no star power and is boring. At least Jorge Nunez last year had some personality. This guy is a dud.

Tyler Grady is up next. I have a lot to say about this guy. Get out of the past. You are NOT Jimi Hendrix. You are NOT Jim Morrison. You are Tyler Grady and that doesn't boast well for this competition. First of all, what the hell was up with that purple scarf thingy he was wearing? That was a bit odd. Secondly, this guy looks like a cross between Rocky Dennis (from Mask played by Eric Stoltz) and Taylor Lautner with his piggie nose. Unfortunately, I think girls may like this guy. I hope I'm totally wrong. I thought this guy could be good but he's just too creepy for me. He sings "American Woman" by Lenny Kravitz and it was a performance that he probably did all through high school singing in his room on his bed using his deodorant stick as a microphone while looking in the mirror at his "cool" moves. It may look great in his bedroom but on stage in front of millions of people watching, it just sort of ruined my appetite.

Next it was Dewyze time. That's Lee Dewyze. This was one of the best performances of the night. I like his voice. It's a bit of Creed and Nickleback mixed with some David Cook and Daughtry. Lee is not 100% polished yet as a performer but this is a guy that could learn and grow each week as he loves where he is right now and loves what he's doing. He sang Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" which I never heard of. The judges wish he changed it up a bit ala David Cook. I can't actually say that since I never heard of the song before but good job Lee !

Then we get John Park. First off, a Chinese guy should NOT have Chase Crawford hair. That's a NO-NO. Secondly, think back to the history of music and try and name ONE single Chinese Pop or Rock star? Please think now as I play the Jeopardy music in the background. Can't think of a single person huh? Me neither. That doesn't bode well for Mr. Park who looks like he could have played the villain in Karate Kid Part 2. He sings a song called "God Bless The Child." Okay...who the hell even sings that song? I think John's 8 minutes of fame is up. He didn't even make it to the standard 15 minutes so he's gone at 8 minutes.

Michael Lynche is up next. This guy has a great personality and is the biggest Idol contestant since Ruben Studdard. Early on, I thought he had the chops to be similar to Ruben. I now have to apologize to Ruben as Lynche is NOT a singer. I don't think he'll go home this week but I don't think he'll go deep anymore despite my earlier prediction. He needs to get eliminated soon and go meet his daughter already. He performs Maroon Five's "This Love". But "this love" was not driving me wild; it was hurting my ear drum. Don't get me wrong, I do like Michael. But I don't like him anymore as a singer.

We get to hear Alex Lambert next who's not related at all to Adam Lambert. He is just not an interesting guy by any means. He sings "Wonderful World" by James Morrison. What? Who? Does anyone give them guidance on song choice? His voice is not terrible but he is not a great singer and has the stage presence of a slug. Looks like Adam will never have to worry about having another Lambert make records.

Casey James was up next and Kara was gushing. Yeah, I know they played this off as a joke but they way she looks at him reminds me of how Paula had a thing for that loser Corey Clark in Season #2 or the crush that Simon had on Christina Christian in Season #1. I don't have a crush on Casey James and hated what they did to his hair as he looked a bit like Bucky Covington but as for his voice, it was one of the best of the crop. He sang "Heaven" by Bryan Adams and made it his own. Not sure if Casey is pop or country but it was definitely entertaining and well done.

Finally the saved Andrew Garcia for last. Coming off his "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul, the expectations were high. In doing Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Going Down" he showed that he's one of the ones to beat. He was criticized by the judges but I think that was only to push him from good to greatness and to push the envelope. He's right up there and will be doing deep in this competition.

So, who goes home? The worst were Jermaine, Tim, Joe, John, and Alex. Any of these five could go home but I'm gonna say Joe and John go home but it really could be any of these five.

As for my original picks for Top 6 guys, I only have 5 left:
Andrew Garcia
Michael Lynche
Toddrick Hall
Casey James
Tyler Grady

But based on their first performances, I'm gonna revise my Top 6 guys to:
Andrew Garcia
Casey James
Todrick Hall
Aaron Kelly
Lee Dewyze
Tyler Grady

Until tomorrow night, Birdman Out

Top 12 Girls Perform

2010-02-24T05:55:00.001-08:00

Finally auditions were over and it was time for the Top 24 to perform.

One thing over the course of the night actually bothered me and it was the first time all season that I noticed it. There was no banter after comments. Thus, it was the first time I actually missed Paula Abdul saying something stupid and to have Simon react. Basically, each judge last night made their comments and that was it. Not having Paula there made the judging a bit boring. Anyway, here's how the night played out:

Up first was Paige Miles. This was the first time we got to meet and hear Paige sing so I was going in with an open mind. She sings "All Right Now" by Free. The judges thought she had a great voice. I just must have ear wax. First of all, she looks like Lawrence Taylor with long hair. Secondly, I was far from blown away. For her, she really needed to blow us away since no one has any clue who she is. Thus, she's on the bubble for elimination as far as I'm concerned. A total potential Bottom Three for tonight.

Next to sing is Ashley Rodriguez, one of my favorites from the audition rounds. She has that Jordan Sparks look to her. She's pretty. She's marketable. She can sing. She picked a terrible song in Leona Lewis' "Happy." There were parts of the song I liked and parts where she seemed lost. I hope it was just nerves. But, I was a bit disappointed in her first performance. However, based on how some of the other girls did, I think she's safe for the week. Knock on wood.

Then we get to see Janell Wheeler who is one of the two girls to remind me a bit of Brooke White. She's a good looking girl but her voice seemed a bit off in doing Heart's "What About Love" which wasn't nearly as good as Gina Glocksen's "Alone" a few years ago. One of the problems is that there's another blonde in this competition just like her so either one or the other makes it or neither. Both girls definitely won't make it.

Lilly Scott was up next. She's the street singer who's right out of a trailer park. I can't stand her platinum grey hair. You are 20-something...not 60. And she reminds me of last year's Allison Irritating who I couldn't stand. Lilly is this year's Irritating. I need to come up with a name for her. For now, I'll just call her Lilly Not. She sings the Beatles' "Fixing A Hole" and I couldn't stand it. I don't think she has a good voice and this is going to drive me crazy each week when the judges give her praise. I just don't get it.

Up next was Katelyn Epperly, the pretty blond with curly, bushy hair. Not quite sure why people keep on singing Beatles songs but whatever. Wish they sang something more recent with what they had to choose from. I liked Katelyn. She's good looking. Has a good personality. I agreed that she should have not gone with the red lipstick but she was the best singer of the night as far as my ears were concerned. She sang "Oh!! Darling" and shocked me on how well she performed. I'd love for her to cover up that beauty mark between her eyes but that's just a minor fix.

We then get Haeley Vaughn. Now this I don't get. I don't get her voice. There's a reason that there are NO black female country singers and Haeley is the perfect example. First of all, she looks like Dee from What's Happening. Secondly, the lisp has gotta go. She's as annoying as Paris Bennett. She sings worse than almost any Idol contestant that I can even remember. She destroys a Beatles song (another freggin Beatless song "I Wanna Hold Your Hand". As she sung, I wanted to hold her neck and CHOKE her until she shut her trap. Her look, her voice, her personality...it's all wrong. She's in the bottom 3 for sure.

Hitting the stage next was Lacey Brown who just missed the top 24 last year to Megan Joy (aka Tatoo Girl). The fact that this girl made it this year and Angela Martin is at home is a head scratcher. I just don't get this Adelle / Duffy voice. The judges even mentioned that too many people are going the Adelle / Duffy route. Personally, I think Adelle and Duffy stink. It's not even singing. It's sing talking. I want to hear people with good voices sing songs with melody. I don't want to hear people try and talk/sing a song that bores me to sleep. That being said, Lacey was horrendous talking thru Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide." Her performance was more of a mud slide. Her voice was all over the place. Lacey is in big trouble. I smell Bottom 3.

Michelle Delamor is up next. She's a corporate singer. Not sure what that means. So companies hire her to sing at their Christmas party? What the hell does a corporate singer do? Michelle is a good looking girl with a nice voice but she's not the brightest. If you've watched this show for years, there are people you should sing and people you shouldn't sing. In the shouldn't sing category are: Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Barbara Streisand, and Alicia Keys. Anyone with a super strong voice like that are artists you should avoid. Michelle fell into that trap singing Alicia Keys' "Fallin'." That being said, she did sing the song good but as it's been pointed out, it's by no means better or different than the original artist. However, she's safe for the night.

Up next was Didi Benami, another Brooke White twin who goes the Adelle and Duffy route. She's singing a song from Eck called "The Way I am." Eck? Who the heck is Eck. As for the song, it's ICK. What a terrible song choice to talk sing thru. Megan Joy last year did this talk singing thing and I loathed it. It just doesn't work. It doesn't show if you can sing or not. This is a singing competition; not a talk competition. I wish people would come out and sing and show off their voice. Her performance was a bit boring.

We then get Siobhan Magnus. Yup...I hate that name. Siobhan. Who names their kid Siobhan. She sings one of the worst songs ever in Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game." She has a nice voice but what a terrible song choice. The judges like her but I think she's a bit overrated already. She has no personality and is very forgettable ala Julia DeMato from Season 2. I hope she's a good glass blower so at least she'll have a fall-back career if music doesn't work out.

Then there's Crystal Bowersox. In the auditions and Hollywood, we see her sing with her dirty hair and rotten teeth. I think they fixed up some of her teeth for her performance as the front ones looked a bit whiter and straighter instead of that yellowy crooked rotten look. Gotta love those porcelain veneers. Each week she survives, they'll fix up her teeth and before ya know it, she'll have the same mouth as Elliot Yamin. Crystal is a talented girl with her guitar and harmonica. She sings Alanis Morissette's "Hand In My Pocket" and showed she has a good voice. But does she have star power? I can totally see her in the village downtown singing a set or two but in an arena? I'm not quite sure about that. She has nothing to fear as she's not going anywhere yet except back to the dentist for more work.

Finally, there's Katie Stevens who gets to end the show. Katie is cute and the fact that she got to end the show gave me hope for a great performance. She performed "Feelin' Good" and I was feeling good after her performance. It wasn't the best of the night which is mostly reserved for the final performance but it was good enough for sure to continue on. I think she's young so she could get better once she gets over her nerves and picks better songs.

So, BOTTOM 3 should be: Paige, Lacey, and Haeley. (with Didi and Janell on the bubble).

The BEST singer of the night was Katelyn.

I CANT STAND: Lilly, Haeley, and

Biggest Dissappointment is: Ashely

Interchangeable Twins: Didi and Janell

Before they sang last night, these were my predictions to go to the Top 12:

Ashley Rodriguez
Katelyn Epperly
Katie Stevens
Crystal Bowersox
Didi Benami
Haeley Vaughn

I'm going to revise this by taking off Didi and Haeley and dropping in Lilly (which I hate to do) and Siobhan (which I'm not thrilled about either)

So, here's the revised Top 6 girls so far:

Ashley Rodriguez
Katelyn Epperly
Katie Stevens
Crystal Bowersox
Lilly Scott
Siobhan Magnus

Let's hope the boys do a better job tonight.

Until then...Birdman Out.

Top 24 Revealed !

2010-02-18T05:59:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally have our TOP 24 !

I'm not going to get into much until next week but just a few things.

One thing that bothered me is that they barely showed people get eliminated. Come on. I want to see more people cry and get reality checks that they are not good enough. It's sad but it's healthy to show that stuff so people can stop wasting their time and chasing their dreams if they are not good enough.

Also, they showed people making it out of order. There was a shot where someone came to the waiting room to say he/she made it. You see the girl with the crooked face sitting there who was already eliminated. Why didn't we see it in order this year where the room gets smaller and smaller each year? Also, they used to have the final two of each sex sitting in a chair next to each other with one of the two making it. This year, they final two each went separately.

And the part with Angela Martin was a bit much. Kara had to sit next to her on the chair to eliminate her. Two years ago her father croaks. Last year she was in the slammer. And this year (which they never mentioned as this took place earlier) her mother has been missing since Christmas. So, I guess we'll see Angela next year. What will her story then be? Divorced? Pregnant? This girl is a walking depression bomb. But, she's better than the last girl to make it in Haeley Vaughn.

It was Haeley Vaughn vs. Tori Kelly for that last spot and Haeley gets it for some reason. I don't know about you but Haeley Vaughn repulses me. I'll expand more on this next week when I RIP everyone I can't stand and critique their first full performance but this girl will be one of my THREE main targets this year. The other two are Lily Scott and Crystal Bowersox.

Also making the Top 24 was Paige Miles. Who? I have no idea. We haven't seen a second of her that I can even remember. Could she have been better than Angela Martin?

As for the guys, what happened to Chris Golightly? He was in the waiting room but they haven't shown much of him for weeks. He was really good from what I remember and I had him slotted in my Top 24 only to get eliminated without us seeing much more of him.

The biggest shock of the men was Joe Munoz. He's good but is he really going anywhere? He's the Spanish Chicken Little for this season for sure.

The final two was an easy choice with it being Thaddeus Johnson vs Andrew Garcia. Thaddeus was good but they already had Michael Lynch in the Top 24 and Andrew Garcia was one of the best all audition rounds so this was an easy choice.

So, here are your TOP 12 Girls: Did Benami, Crystal Bowersox, Lacey Brown, Michelle Delamor, Katelyn Epperly, Siobhan Magnus, Paige Miles, Ashley Rodriguez, Lily Scott, Katie Stevens, Haeley Vaugn, &Janell Wheeler

And here are your TOP 12 Boys: Lee Dewyze, Andrew Garcia, Tyler Grady, Todrick Hall, Aaron Kelly, Casey James, Alex Lambert, Michael Lynche, Joe Munoz, John Park, Jermaine Sellers,& Tim Urban,

An here's how I did on my predictions. Note: T12 is my early choices for Top 12 but that will ALL change next week.

MY TOP 12 GIRLS - Got 8 out of 12 Correct:
1. Ashley Rodriguez (T12) - CORRECT
2. Katelyn Epperly (T12) - CORRECT
3. Katie Stevens (T12) - CORRECT
4. Angela Martin - WRONG
5. Mary Powers - WRONG
6. Jannell Wheeler - CORRECT
7. Lacey Brown - CORRECT
8. Crystal Bowersox (T12) - CORRECT
9. Didi Benami (T12)- CORRECT
10. Haeley Vaugn (T12) - CORRECT
11. Charity Vance - WRONG
12. Tasha Leyton - WRONG

MY TOP 12 BOYS: Got 9 out of 12 Correct
1. Andrew Garcia (T12) - CORRECT
2. Michael Lynche (T12) - CORRECT
3. Chris Golightly - WRONG
4. Toddrick Hall (T12) - CORRECT
5. Jermaine Purifoy - WRONG
6. Casey James (T12) - CORRECT
7. Aaron Kelly - CORRECT
8. Alex Lambert - CORRECT
9. Tim Urban - CORRECT
10. Tyler Grady (T12) - CORRECT
11. J.B. Ahfua - WRONG
12. John Park - CORRECT

My EARLY pick for the Final 2 before hearing their first performance is: Andrew Garcia vs. Ashley Rodriguez

Until next week...Birdman Out

7 Of Top 24 Revealed

2010-02-17T05:50:00.000-08:00

Okay...finally we are getting somewhere with the Top 24 starting to be picked. So, we'll just give you some random thoughts as we finalize things before I can get into some critiquing next week when we see the Top 24 perform.

I was so happy that Mary Powers got the boot. She was so annoying last week that I couldn't take much more of her. The shame is that she has a good voice but she loves herself and I really can't stand her so good by Mary. Go out and get a little lamb. It was sad to see Charity Vance get the boot too as I thought she had a sweet voice but I guess she needs to get a bit better.

One of the people I can't stand and is officially going to be this year's Fantasia or Paris Bennett that I just don't get is Haeley Vaughn. I don't like her look. I don't like her voice. She looks like Dee from What's Happening. It just doesn't work and I know she's gonna make it to the Top 24 and beyond.

Anyway, they started the process with "the long walk" to meet the judges to see if they made the Top 24 or not.

Michael Lynche was up first and there were rumors that he made it but then his Dad told people and that broke the rules and Michael was eliminated. I believe they let him remain in the competition. Michael can be this year's Ruben Studdard with better personality. Michael has a great voice and comes off as a nice guy. Ya can't boot a nice guy who just had a baby. Look for him to stay around for a bit.

The first female to go thru is Didi Benami. She was the girl that sung one of Kara's songs and made it sound good. This girl has a nice voice and reminds me a bit like Brooke White but better. She can easlity make it thru to the Top 12. She also gets the sympathy factor ala Danny Gokey. While it wasn't Didi's spouse that died, it was her best friend that she's singing for.

The next girl to make it is Katelyn Epperly. She's the cute girl with big bushy hair. I think they'll fix her hair up a bit for the Top 24 but glad she made it through.

The first person we see get the boot from the waiting room is Shelby. First of all, don't name your kid Shelby. It's a name reserved for chubby farm girls. I don't even know her last name. She's just Shelby. Maybe she can be like Cher, or Madonna one day. She's Shelby. You will never hear from this girl again.

In comes Casey James, the guy that Kara gushes over since taking off his shirt in his first audition. He's the guy who was in a motorcycle accident and was told he would never be able to play the guitar again. Well, girls are gonna love this guy's look and he does have a great voice. Let's just hope that Kara doesn't try to sleep with him like Paula did back in the day with Corey Clark. We hear that Casey is from a town called "Cool" so I guess that's better than being from a town called "Queer." Casey will ride the girls vote and go far.

Little Aaron Kelly is up next. He's a cross between David Archuletta and Kevin Covias (aka Chicken Little). This kid looks like a total twirp but he has a great voice. I'm am not convinced he'll make the Top 12 but we shall see.

Lee DeWyze is next and we didn't get to know much about Lee in the Auditions but I do like his voice. He sounds a bit like Scott Stapp of Creed. This guy could be a dark horse if he can build up a fan base once the Top 24 begin. Look what happened to Kris Allen last year. We didn't see much or all of him in the auditions and he won the damn thing. So, could Lee be the Kris Allen of this year?

We then see Todrick Hall of "The Color Purple" go in front of the judges and get his YES. I like Todrick. He has a good voice and a great personality. Plus, he's polished after already being in a Broadway show with Fantasia. I think he can be better than Broadway. Todrick could be around until May if he plays his cards and songs right.

Finally we see Jessica Furney. Come on Jessica. Once you get a NO at this stage of the game, please stop begging. They are not going to change their mind. Please try out again next year and get better you baby ! How annoying was she ! I'm sure she's NOT showing up at school or work today as she'd be so embarrassed.

So, here is what I have so far. If there is a T12,that's my guess for Top 12.

MY TOP 12 GIRLS:
1. Ashley Rodriguez (T12)
2. Katelyn Epperly (T12) - CORRECT
3. Katie Stevens (T12)
4. Angela Martin
5. Mary Powers - WRONG
6. Jannell Wheeler
7. Lacey Brown
8. Crystal Bowersox (T12)
9. Didi Benami (T12)- CORRECT
10. Haeley Vaugn (T12)
11. Charity Vance - WRONG
12. Tasha Leyton

MY TOP 12 BOYS:
1. Andrew Garcia (T12)
2. Michael Lynche (T12) - CORRECT
3. Chris Golightly
4. Toddrick Hall (T12) - CORRECT
5. Jermaine Purifoy - GONE
6. Casey James (T12)
7. Aaron Kelly - CORRECT
8. Alex Lambert
9. Tim Urban
10. Tyler Grady (T12)
11. J.B. Ahfua
12. John Park
A. Lee DeWyze (T12) - HE'S IN (he was NEVER on my list)

Let's find out the balance tomorrow night. For now, Birdman Out.

Hollywood Round: Group Songs

2010-02-11T06:33:00.000-08:00

Well, we are now at the group day of Hollywood Round which is always annoying. Here are some random thoughts but with too much going on, I'm not touching on everything...I'll deal with that once we get to the Top 24 already. Anyway...

Mary Powers who I used to like I now can't stand. She was beyond annoying all night whining and complaining about her group thinking so was so much better than the others. She'll probably make the Top 24 but I could care less about here and I'm now rooting against here. She belongs downtown in the village and not on the main stage.

There was also a person we've never heard from this season who did a great job in Alex Lambert who has no relation to Adam Lambert from last season. Alex has a great voice and I'm gonna slot him in somewhere to the Top 24 and drop someone below.

We finally get to see Ashley Rodriguez sing and she easily advanced as did Charity Vance. I still believe these two will make Top 24 which A-Rod going much further.

Well, Big Mike had a baby girl and obviously advanced. He's really good and likeable. He'll be around for a while. Not sure why the judges still like this Tim Urban guy. He just doesn't excite me much. He's like a lecture in 1800th century literature...BORING.

Todrick Hall stood out him his group and continues on his journey.

Jermaine Sellers solidified his standing as a potential Top 24 candidate as did Janell Wheeler, Jermaine Purifoy, and Casey James who all should be part of the Top 24 also.

We then get to see Andrew Garcia and Katie Stevens. Not only will these two be in the Top 24, they should make the Top 10, that's how good they are.

Why did people sing "Sweetest Escape"? Terrible song choice ! And enough with Lady Gaga too. Not great audition songs as far as I'm concerned.

So, here is my revised. Where I have revisions, they are noted as I've lost 5 so far from the Top 24:

MY TOP 12 GIRLS:
1. Ashley Rodriguez (T)
2. Katelyn Epperly (T)
3. Katie Stevens (T)
4. Angela Martin (but there are rumors she drops out again cause of her missing mom)
5. Mary Powers
6. Jannell Wheeler
7. Lacey Brown (T)
8. Maddy Curtis – GONE ! REPLACEMENT: Crystal Bowersox
9. Didi Benami
10. Haely Vaugn (T)
11. Charity Vance
12. Paige Dechausse – GONE ! REPLACEMENT: Tasha Leyton

MY TOP 12 BOYS:
1. Andrew Garcia (T)
2. Michael Lynche (T)
3. Chris Golightly (T)
4. Toddrick Hall (T)
5. Jermaine Purifoy
6. Casey James (T)
7. Aaron Kelly
8. Mark Labriola - GONE REPLACEMENT: Adam Lambert
9. Matt Lawrence - GONE REPLACEMENT: Tim Urban
10. Tyler Grady (T)
11. Dave Pittman - GONE REPLACEMENT: J.B. Ahfua
12. John Park

Birdman Out

Hollywood Round - Night #1

2010-02-10T05:35:00.001-08:00

First of all, I think the Ellen thing was going to be a disaster and while it was a bit more Ellen than I wanted, it didn’t bother me too much. So, we have 181 singers in Hollywood and with so much going on, I’m just going to make some points and do some tweaking of my Top 24 until this competition begins.

First of all, Katie Stevens solidified herself as a Top 24 candidate singing “For Once In My Life.” She’s cute and has a great voice. She’s a lock.

Then, Andrew Garcia stood out as a potential winner singing a unique version of Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up.” He did amazing and showed that he could really change it up. Hey…he could be still around in May.

I loved Janell Wheeler who sang “American Boy” last night. She’s got a good look, plays the guitar, and is unique. She’s also a lock for the Top 24.

One of the people who the judges love but I can’t stand is Haeley Vaugn. She is the black country pop singer who did a Taylor Swift song last night. She doesn’t do it for me and I see her being this year’s Paris Bennett as the person who’ll make it deep but I can’t stand.

I like Mary Powers, the rocker. She sings a song from Pink and sounds a bit like Pink. She’s on the bubble for the Top 24 depending on how many other female rockers we get to see. I’d love for her to get in though.

What sucks is that a few favorites from the auditions we don’t even hear sing like Todrick Hall, Charity Vance, and one of my early favorites in Ashley Rodriguez. But, they all advance.

We then get to see Lilly Scott who we never saw in the auditions round. She has this grayish hair and sings some song I’ve never heard of with her guitar. Sorry Lily…I don’t like you but the judges did. I don’t see it so I think she’ll fall well short of the Top 24. And that hair color…time to get that fixed.

We then see Michael Lynche who’s wife is in labor. He was great in the auditions and great in the first round of Hollywood singing “Waiting on the World to Change.” He is easily in the To 24 with that voice and he’s a likeable guy.

We then see a new guy in Tim Urban who sings a David Cook song. I thought he was terrible but the judges had him advance. There’s only one Urban in music and that’s Keith who I think sucks too.

We then get to see the homely Maddy Curtis which I’m so glad she got the boot. I couldn’t look at her. She just looks like a sad wreck.

However, Casey James, the guy who took off his shirt, sings a John Mayer song and did great. This guy has a look that girls will love. He has a great chance of Top 24 status.

We then see Didi Benami who sings a Kara song “Terrified” and did a good job. We never saw Didi before but she did a solid job. I liked it. She could have a chance to make Top 24 if the chips (or tips…she’s a waitress) fall her way.

Last, there was Crystal Bowersox who I don’t remember at all. She sings “Natural Woman”, a song which Kelly Clarkson did so well. She did a good job with this song but it didn’t blow me away.

There was definitely some people we didn’t see this day too like Tyler Grady who I really liked. Hope we see more tonight. Here’s my original list. Let’s see who gets the boot. Ooops. I realized I had Casey James with the boys by accident so I have to tweak a little bit:

MY TOP 12 GIRLS:
1. Ashley Rodriguez (T)
2. Katelyn Epperly (T)
3. Katie Stevens (T)
4. Angela Martin (but there are rumors she drops out again cause of her missing mom)
5. Mary Powers
6. Jannell Wheeler
7. Lacey Brown (T)
8. Maddy Curtis – GONE !
9. Didi Benami
10. Haely Vaugn (T)
11. Charity Vance
12. Paige Dechausse – GONE !

MY TOP 12 BOYS:
1. Andrew Garcia (T)
2. Michael Lynche (T)
3. Chris Golightly (T)
4. Toddrick Hall (T)
5. Jermaine Purifoy
6. Casey James (T)
7. Aaron Kelly
8. Mark Labriola
9. Matt Lawrence
10. Tyler Grady (T)
11. Dave Pittman
12. John Park

Birdman Out

Season 9: Off To Hollywood !

2010-02-04T05:56:00.001-08:00

Instead of going thru all the nonsense of the final auditions show, I'm going to just touch on who was good that we saw in this last episode and then take my first stab at the Top 24 since I'm sick of talking about so many people that we really don't care about anymore.

Three were a few people that stood out. First was Lacey Brown. The was the last person to get booted last year against Megan Joy. So, if she lost to Megan and Megan sucked, it shows that the Judges made a huge mistake last year and Megan even made it to the Top 10. So, if that could happen, there are high hopes for Lacey.

Aaron Kelly stood out as well above the rest. He's the 16 year old kid who was adopted by his aunt and uncle. The little girls are gonna love this kid once the competition goes on.

I also liked Michael Lynche, the big muscle guy. Thought he had a great voice.

Yeah, there were some other good ones but we are ready for Hollywood so I could care less if they got the golden shower, ooops, I mean ticket, or not.

So, let's see who belongs in the Top 24 based on who we've seen so far. (Note: If there is a (T) next to the name, these are my early picks for TOP 12)

MY TOP 12 GIRLS:
1. Ashley Rodriguez (T)
2. Katelyn Epperly (T)
3. Katie Stevens (T)
4. Angela Martin (but there are rumors she drops out again cause of her missing mom)
5. Mary Powers
6. Jannell Wheeler
7. Lacey Brown (T)
8. Maddy Curtis
9. Casey James (T)
10. Haely Vaugn (T)
11. Charity Vance
12. Paige Dechausse

MY TOP 12 BOYS:
1. Andrew Garcia (T)
2. Michael Lynche (T)
3. Chris Golightly (T)
4. Toddrick Hall (T)
5. Jermaine Purifoy
6. Justin Williams
7. Aaron Kelly (T)
8. Mark Labriola
9. Matt Lawrence
10. Tyler Grady (T)
11. Dave Pittman
12. John Park

I'm sure I'll be WAY off. Right now, based on what we've seen, I'm leaning towards our new American Idol to be Ashely Rodriguez. But, my mind could easily change once we see the true Top 24 sing !

Until next week...Birdman Out.

Season 9: Denver Auditions

2010-02-03T05:43:00.000-08:00

I'm so glad the auditions are almost over as it's getting boring. So boring that they had to bring back Posh Spice to bore me even more. Well, here's how Denver played out:

First up was an interesting looking character in Mark Labriola who the judges think looks like Jack Black. I think he looks more like this smelly kid who works in the office next door who always stinks up the men's room but not many people would even know what I'm talking about. Anyway, This guy's got a story. He's his mother's sister's bastard child who moved in with is father only to be on the run from his mother from Hawaii but moved south and got married and had a kid or some crazy story like that. I'm sure I got it wrong but it's like the telephone game. I hear one thing. It becomes something else. Tomorrow, the story will change again. Anyway, no one thought this guy was serious but the funny thing was that he can sing. He sang "Tempted" and did a solid job. He isn't the best but his personality and crazy story could get him to the cusp of the Top 24 where he'll probably just fall short.

Then, we get a bad audition in Mario Galvan, the guy with the nervous laugh and the giant scar on his head that was never mentioned. He looked like a Philipino Frankenstein. Anyway, his rendition of "Jailhouse Rock" would have caused a riot on Riker's Island. Just pathetic.

Kimberly Kerbow was up next. She also has a kid. Is it a prerequisite to have a kid and be young to get a chance to be in front of the judges? Anyway, no clue what song she sang. She has a cute voice but I wish it was stronger as she does have a nice look to her. They also claimed she was wearing a wig. I didn't think she was wearing a wig; she just had a bad hairdo. She'll never make it to the Top 24.

Then, it was up to Danelle Hayes, the emotional girl who hosts karoke and writes her own songs. I liked girl's look and personality but she sang a song I loathe in "I'm The Only One" which every "rocker" girl seems to use. I'd love for her to make the Top 24 but can she overcome her emotions and do something more than rocker songs? I had to sit thru Allison Irritating last year and then Amanda Overymeyer the year before. I'm not sure my ears can handle another rocker chick like this but I did like this one more than the two girls I just mentioned.

Casey James was up next. He was the one that survived a motorcycle accident years ago. He looks like a cross between Jason Lewis of Sex In The City and Bucky Covington but didn't have that southern sound of marbles in his mouth. He did some country song and then they make him take his shirt off. Okay...girls are gonna love this guy. I actually thought he did a great job with his audition. I'd stick him in the Top 24 for sure.

Then, we get a youngster in Tori Kelly who brought a bunch of kids with her. She looked so much older than 16 but okay. She sings John Mayer's "Gravity" and did a good job. I agree with Simon that her voice could be a bit annoying so I'm sure she'll fail when paired up against others in Hollywood.

Austin Paul, the football player, was up next. This guy loved himself and had a weird voice. How could he be a football player? He's a total dork; not a jock. He sings a song called "Bigger Than My Body" and I hated it. It just didn't work for me and the judges were turned off as well. So, he's not gonna be a tootball player or a singer. It's time to go back to college and make an appointment with your career counselor to come up with a new path to take before graduation.

Then, there's Kenny Everett who sings a Mary J. Blige song. NO. STOP. PLEASE ! Come on. If you are a DUDE. DON'T sing a song of a chick. it's creepy !

We then get to meet Nicci Nix. No, not Nikki Six. Nicci Nix. Sounds like a porn start to me. She's the chick from Italy. I couldn't stand this girl. She totally annoyed me. Not sure if it was her look or her squeaky voice. She sang decently but she's gonna fail. I think the judges just wanted her to build up frequent flyer miles going back to Italy and then coming back to the US. She's going nowhere.

Finally, it's time for the final contestant in Haeley Vaughn, who was born premature and called the "Miracle Child." She wants to be the first black pop.country singer. Huh. A black singing country is like an Indian singing heavy metal. It just doesn't work. However, haley does sing the song well despite her lisp. I guess if she can pull it off, she can garner the votes of the southern country fool, the midwestern hick, and the R&B black vote. So, maybe, even though she could be my Paris Bennet this year as the girl I don't like, she could do some damage in the Top 24.

I guess we then had some dude in a bikini but that was all set up from the producers so I won't waste my time typing anymore on that.

So we are down to one more night of stuff they didn't show us. I guess the best from this night was Casey James, Haeley Vaugn, and I'm gonna stick Mark Labriola in there.

See ya tomorrow night for the final night of auditions. Birdman Out.

Season 9: Dallas Auditions

2010-01-28T06:19:00.000-08:00

The 6th audition city takes us to Dallas, Texas with guest judges Neil Patrick Harris who did a great job and Joe Jonas who basically didn't even exist.

Anyway, where's how the night went:

First up is a veteran from the Idol auditions. Julie Kevelighan sang in the first season and obviously failed since you don't know her name. So, she's back and ready for more abuse. She starts off by singing "Black Velvet" and maybe there is a slight improvement over the last eight years but not an improvement that will have her advance. She starts up again now with "Over The Rainbow" and the judges still hate it. Plus, she goes for a third song with "Something to Talk About." Well, she gave us plenty to talk about...about how BAD and PATHETIC this woman is. She's nothing more than a shower singer singing into her shampoo.

We then get to meet Lloyd Thomas. Lloyd looks like an updated version of Ruben Studdard but with more personality. Lloyd sings "Overjoyed" and it was really good. The one thing I'm worried about for Lloyd is that he's one dimensional. Can he change it up when asked to sing different kinds of songs? I hope so. I'd root for Lloyd. He has a chance to be Top 24. I could also see him flopping when they do the group songs in Hollywood if he got a bad group.

Then there's Kimberly Carver who reminded me a bit of singing Monica Lewinsky but she didn't suck. That's a pun. Anyway, she sings an original song and has a nice voice. She's a bit boring too. She gets a golden ticket but she won't make it to the Top 24. Give her a consolation prize...here's your cigar !

We then get to see Erica Rhodes audition. It's so funny that she was on "Barney & Friends" and I totally know this girl. She comes in wearing this dominatrix outfit and a whip. Not sure if Barney is into S&M or what the whole costume was all about. However, after singing the Barney theme song, she went into "Free your Mind" and did a good job. She's not going anywhere except maybe back to kiddie television but I'm sure she'll create some drama in Hollywood. I'd love to see her do some Tatiana Ali crying and get all emotional as this girl bothered me a bit.

To end day #1 in Dallas, we get to meet Dave Pittman who has been diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome. This makes him have some twitches in his mouth, clearing his throat, and some slight head movements but when he sang, he really had it going on. Oh, he had a funny thing going on with his nose too but Allison Irreheta made it to #3 last year with a PIG NOSE so who knows if the nose has any effect...ya know? Anyway, he sang "Bring It On Home To Me" and sung it great. It think he'll come right down to the wire on making it to the Top 24 but he'll fall just short. I can just picture him singing one of his songs really well and then breaks out into a Tourette's fit. Picture him singing "Overjoyed." "Overjoyed, we are building this castle of Muther Fucker Cock Shit Dam...."

Kicking off day #2 was Todrick Hall who was in "The Color Purple" with my "favorite" idol, Fantasia. YUCK. Todrick has a great personality and sings an original song he wrote about himself and the judges and his experience auditioning for American Idol. The song is well written, funny, and sung great. It was definitely one of my favorite performances of the night. The one question mark I have about Todrick is that he's so Broadway. Can he branch out? I'm looking forward to see more of Todrick in Hollywood week but he could be a candidate for Top 24.

We then briefly see three people who got yesses in Dawntoya Thomason, Stephane Daulong, and Meagan Wright. They all got the golden ticket but no one really excited me.

After a few more bad auditions, we get to hear Christian Spear. No, there is NO relation to Britney Spears. She was diagnosed with leukemia when she was young but has been healthy for the past 8 years. She did a good job singing some Etta James song. She did good. Was she my favorite? Hell no. But, looking forward to see how this 16 year old copes with Hollywood week.

So, that's it for Dallas. My favorites were Lloyd Thomas, Dave Pittman, and Todrick Hall. Phewww...just one more week of auditions and we get to Hollywood Week. I'm ready already.

See ya next week. Birdman Out.

Season 9: L.A. Auditions

2010-01-27T05:51:00.000-08:00

Idol Auditions night #5 took us to L.A. where we get Avril Lavigne and then Katy Perry as guest judges. I like Avril Lavigne. I just wish she stopped dressing so dark and devilish and glamored up a bit as she could come off as so much more attractive. As for Katy Perry, she confirmed my believe that she is a miserable person with a constant sour puss on her face. Plus, she dates a total loser as well. Anyway, here' show Los Angeles played out:

First up was Neil Goldstein and I'm embarrassed to share the same religion as this guy. What a loser. I'm convinced that he put on this act to get on TV with is tongue clicking and all the stupid stuff he was saying. Fake or not, this dude had his hair like some chick in the 1950's. He sings "Rock and Roll Dreams Come True" by Meatloaf. I can see this guy sitting at home and jerking off to his Meatloaf poster which is pinned to his cork board in his bedroom. I can also see this guy dressing up in drag on the weekends as well. But as for being a singer, my wife's meatloaf after giving birth made better sounds than Neil Goldstein's Meatloaf attempt.

Next was Jim Ranger's turn. He's the worship pastor with three kids. He decides to go with an original song that he wrote himself and did a solid job. I'm not sure why some of the judges were questioning the fact that he has three kids and if he made it would have to leave them. You would think he would know the consequences if he makes it. That shouldn't have even been an issue. Just give the guy his yellow ticket and let him advance which he did. I don't think he'll make it to the Top 24 but he could be on the bubble.

We then go from a pastor to a dude named Damien, the martial artist and the guy who works with sandwiches and recommends pepperoni. He sings a Righteous Brothers song which he couldn't even remember the name of. I also think this guy was faking it by his shitty voice.

Next we get to meet Mary Powers who sings Pat Benetar's "Love Is A Battlefield." I didn't like her rocker costume but she had a good rocker voice. I think her voice was much better than Allison Irritating and she has a much better look to her unlike last year's pig. She has more of an appeal too sort of like Gina Glocksen. So, I'll say she's Glocksenish. She was a lock for Hollywood and I could see her making the Top 24 depending on how many other female rockers we get to see.

One of the worst of the night had to be A.J. Mendoza who so wants to be this year's Adam Lambert. Well, schmuck, if you watch this show year after year, you should try and be different from one of the finalists from the prior year. If you go thru the winners and runner-ups, the person winning the following year was a complete opposite. Plus, A.J. Mendoza, we already had our dose of A.J. Gill, E.J. Day, and R.J. Helton and A.J. sings "Cult of Personality." It was repulsive and I love that he thinks he was good which makes it even better that the judges basically told him he stinks. Gotta love a reality check.

Day two starts with Austin Fullmer destroying Cheap Trick. But, then we had one of the better contestants this season in Andrew Garcia. He was the one who's parents were gang members and got their son away from that route. Andrew sings a Maroon Five song and has a great voice. Plus, he's got personality. With his big plastic optical frames and smoothe voice, he's very Gokey-ish. This guy is a lock for the Top 24 and beyond.

Following was Tasha Layton who was a personal assistant during the day and a minister in the evenings. She sing some Joss Stone song but at least she kept her shoes unlike Joss. She did a good job but she's very unforgettable. She could easily be forgotten come Hollywood. What was her name again?

We get another loser in Jason Greene who sings some Divinyls song. This dude is just creepy. Katy tells Jason that she feels dirty. He tells her that she makes him feel dirty. The whole few minutes was quite disturbing. I think this guy was in my nightmare last night. We'll see him audition next year but you can probably find him in your local Blockbuster before all of those stores close down.

Finally, we get to hear Chris Golightly. He was in foster care growing up and had about 20+ different families care for him. Okay all...we got a good story. Plus, he's got that Justin Guarini hair and a good look for girls to like him. She sings a great rendition of "Stand By Me" and between his voice and story, he could grow a fan base if he performs well in Hollywood. I can see this guy making the Top 24 for sure.

Well, my favorites for the night were Andrew Garcia, Chris Colightly, and Mary Powers. I'm just glad that we only have 3 more nights of auditions before we make it to Hollywood.

Birdman Out.

Season 9: Orlando Auditions

2010-01-21T05:46:00.000-08:00

Well, the Idol auditions now take us to Orlando, home of Mickey Mouse, with Kristin Chenoweth as this city's guest judge. Here's how it played out:

First up had to be the biggest a-hole of Season 9 in Theo Glinton. He has this giant glitter circles or mirrors on his face, tight girlie jeans, and I couldn't tell if he had boobs? Not sure if he was just a man face with a chubby woman's body. He destroys Pat Benetar's "Heartbreaker" and then the judges had to break his heart. He started up again singing "Dance With My Father" but after that performance, his father should disown him. Time to go back to working coat check at a dance club Theo.

Then it was Seth Rollins chance to sing. He was the 28 year old guy with the autistic son. Okay...we got a story...he's got the autistic card in his back pocket to move on. He sings "Someone to Watch Over Me" and had a nice voice with some soul. He could use a bit more personality but I guess it's not easy dealing with a 5 year old autistic kid which could be draining. He'll get towards the end of the Hollywood round and then I can just see him being all drained out and flopping. I hope I'm wrong so for now, Rollins is on the bubble.

One of the better contestants was up next in Jermaine Purifoy. He failed in the 7th season but is back for more. He does a great rendition of some Tony Bennett song which scored him the golden ticket. I wish his voice was a bit stronger but he had a good personality and could squeak into the Top 24 if he plays his cards right in Hollywood.

To conclude day one, we get to meet Shelby Dressel. First of all, I hate the name Shelby. Seems like most Shelby's live in the middle of the country in a trailer park, and are mostly a mess. But, if it weren't for this Shelby's partially paralyzed face, she's be somewhat attractive. Okay...I'm the most shallow person on the planet. She had a nice voice singing Norah Jones' "Turn Me On" but I just can't look at her and listen. There isn't quite a lisp but there is a sound that you can tell there is something wrong with her. Don't get me wrong, she's better than many other contestants but I just can't look and listen. I'm totally going to hell. However, I will root for this girl to go as far as possible into the Hollywood round before her pending departure.

To start the second day, we get to meet Blake Lewis part 2 in Jay Stone who did a beat boxing rendition of "Come Together" while mixing in singing and beat boxing at the same time. It was interesting to watch but it sort of gave me a headache. The shame of it is that he has a decent voice when he sang "Ain't No Sunshine" but we've been down this road before and we all know how Blake Lewis' career has turned out. So, Jay's journey will end in Hollywood.

We then briefly get to see three girls get golden tickets in Janell Wheeler doing "House of the Rising Sun", Brittany Star James doing "American Boy" and Kasi Bedford singing "Something To Talk About." All three got the golden tickets but Janell stood out among these three ladies. I don't know much about her and I guess none of these girls have a backstory but I'd love to see more of Janell sing in Hollywood.

The funniest part of the night was Cornelius Edwards singing Tina Turner's "Proud Mary" and since he hangs out with exotic dancers, he tries to do a move and goes with the split and totally splits his pants. It was fantastic. His singing was average at best but they give him the ticket anyway. Obviously, they are setting him up to fail in Hollywood.

Next up is American Idol's version of "Jersey Shore" with NJ best friends (or lesbians) Bernadette and Amanda. Bernadette sings "Hit The Road Jack" which was an odd choice. Amanda sings "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and you know how I feel when someone sings Whitney Houston. They both do an okay job.

Now that some jeans have split, must we do the same to some sisters from Cherry Hill, New Jersey? Bernadette, 27, and Amanda, 23, live with their mom and their salon. Maybe they'll hire Theo. They do performances together every morning. They obviously love each other so much as to inspire lewd fan fiction. Should they have fans, that is. In the audition room, both sisters say they're equally talented. Didn’t we hear this a week ago? I'm sure they are gong to toy with the two of these girls in Hollywood but neither has a chance of making it. I guess they should hang out at Seaside Heights and maybe they can be in the background of MTV's hit show.

Jarrod Norrell is next with his multi-pathetic version of "Amazing Grace." It was more amazingly bad. The security guards have to remove this a-hole from the audition room. Enough about Jarrod. He'll be in prison soon.

And it looks like they saved the best for last in Matt Lawrence who is definitely this year's Michael Sarver but instead of being in construction, he's an ex-con who robbed a bank. Hey, here's a story for us on how a bank robber changed his life to try and become the next American Idol. Michael sings a song called "Trouble" which he's not in anymore with that voice. He does a great job. The only thing going against Matt is that he did rob a bank, he's not the best looking guy, and his personality is a bit boring. Besides that, he has potential. I look for him to be right on the border of the Top 24.

So, my favorites of the night were: Janell Wheeler, Matt Lawrence, Seth Rollins, and Jermaine Purifoy. None of them blew me away but these are the few that have a chance.

Well, that's it for this week. Catch ya next week...same Bird time...same Bird Channel

Birdman out.

Season 9: Chicago Auditions

2010-01-20T05:34:00.000-08:00

Well, the auditions took us to Chicago with Shania Twain as the guest judge and here's how it played out:

First up was Katelyn Epperly with her bushy hair. She's actually a cute girl and if they fix up her hair and get rid of that pencil dot between her eyebrows, they'll make her look good when she makes the Top 24 for sure. She sings a absolutely awful song in Duffy's "Syrup and Honey" but does a great job singing such garbage. But, she has the look and personality to lure in callers so look for her to stay around for a bit.

Up next was Amy Lang who was trying to hard to be funny like last year's Normal Gentle but it wasn't working. She wasn't that funny and was trying way to hard whether is was being hyper or faking a faint before getting up to sing "Dr. Feelgood." It all wasn't working. Not sure what she was doing either with her giant boobs but that didn't turn me on either. The sad part was that despite how annoying she was, if she didn't try and put on an act, she didn't have a terrible voice. But, she's a goner. She claims she was just trying to stand out. She did stand out - as a LOSER.

We then get to meet Charity Vance. First of all, I can't stand the name "Charity." "Charity" is a WORD; it's not a NAME. Anyway, she sings "Summertime" which someone has to attempt each year since it worked for Fantasia back in Season 3 despite how much I hated her performance. The thing is that Charity has a nice voice. It's the voice that will get her through a round or two of Hollywood but she'll fall a bit short of the Top 24. I wish her voice was a bit stronger but maybe it was charity from the judges that she got the golden ticket.

And now we get to see Angela Martin...again, for the third straight season. She's the one who we saw back in Season 7 when some hospital had to take care of her daughters when she was just 21. Then, last year she made it to the Top 50 but then had to drop out because of a court date for a moving violation. So, does she get further this year? She sings Mary J. Blige's "Just Fine" and did a fine job. She was an easy choice to go to Hollywood. Now, reading a headline on the internet about Angela Martin, her mother supposedly disappeared on Christmas this past year and she has not been seen since. So, I wonder if Angela will have to drop out early again while searching for her mother. Based on that, I guess we'll see her for a 4th time next year.

The first person I can remember from Day #2 is Brian Krause who looks a bit like Benny from L.A. Law (if you are old enough to even remember that show.) He seems a bit off and was probably dropped on the head a few times as a child. I still can't decide if he's really a disaster or if he was faking the entire thing to get on TV. He sings a Tiny Tim song which sort of shows that it's a bit of a joke and the fact that when he was singing Tiny Tim that he looked a bit like Tiny Tim was bizarre as well. I think it was all an act but the fact that he kept a straight face throughout the entire audition was quite impressive. I'm sure he'll be back at his job flipping burgers before ya know it.

And what was up with Harold Davis singing that Usher song? Come on Harold, you are melting the wax in my ears !

There was then this girl named Chantelle Graczkowski who no matter what would never make it based on her name. Didn't help much either that she can't sing.

Then we get to see John Park who is shooting to become the first Asian guy to make it to the Top 12. He sings Donny Hathaway's "More Than You'll Ever Know" and does a solid job. He has a unique look and a smoothe voice so I can see this guy having a chance to make the Top 24.

The last real person of the night was Paige Dechausse who has the asthma back story. The backstory always helps especially when her parents said they thought Paige was gonna die. So, she gets some sympathy points for that. Paige sings "A Change Is Gonna Come" and does a good job. She loves herself a bit too much which could turn off the voters and the judges. I see her going to the final round in Hollywood and then could be on the bubble.

So, that was the night. Locks for the Top 24 are: Katelyn Epperly and John Park. On the bubble for the Top 24 are: Charity Vance, Paige Dechausse, and Angela Martin.

That's it. not the best night but we'll catch ya tomorrow. Birdman Out.

Season 9: Atlanta Auditions

2010-01-14T09:20:00.001-08:00

In prior seasons, Atlanta has had some talent in Clay Aiken and Jennifer Hudson and I guess I’ll even throw in Fantasia despite how horrific she is. But after watching last night’s auditions, it looks like Atlanta has officially ran out of talent.

Taking over the guest seat is Mary J. Blige who brought absolutely nothing to the table at all. She was as useless as a fish with no gills.

First up to waste my time was Dewone Robinson who’s great uncle discovered Gladys Knight and the Pips. Unfortunately, that great uncle didn’t discover Dewone. He sings some ridiculous song he made up called “Lady, We’re Not Together Anymore.” I think I may write a sequel to that song called, “Dude, Get A Life.”

We then get a Miss Congeniality winner from a Miss America competition in Keia Johnson. She sings “My Heart Will Go On” and I think she did an okay job. She doesn’t have much of a story but she does have personality which could help her. She’s on the bubble and could maybe, if lucky, just squeak past Hollywood but I’m not 100% sure.

Jermaine Sellers is the next to stand out being a church singer from Illinois. His mother has spina bifida and has taken care of her since he was 17. He picks a weird choice singing “One Of Us” by Joan Osbourne but he did a solid job. I almost wished he did better as I think there is potential in him.

One of the more annoying contestants of the night went to Christy Marie Agronow. She’s the host of 411 The Show. Okay…whatever the hell that means. She murders Pat Benetar’s “Love Is A Battlefield.” She should stick with the 411 show that NO ONE watches.

Another werid person was next in Vanessa Wolfe, the bride jumper. Okay…ya just go to a bridge and jump into the water? That is such a trailer trash thing to do. Hey lady…whatever floats your boat. She sings some dumb ass song called “Wagon Wheel” which I’m sure most of us have never heard of before.

Will Vanessa Wolfe be one of them? Vanessa is a bridge jumper. Yes, that's what she does for fun. There's not much to do for fun in Vonore, Tennessee. She doesn't go to the movies or the mall. She feels trapped in her hometown and wants to make something of herself through Idol. With the home videos and the ads looking to be in her favor, this will probably be a good audition. She was very excited to make it to Hollywood to go on the Air O Plane. Jesus. This chick is scary and the judges are just setting her up for failure in Hollywood.

The 2nd day started with more waste of time with Jesse Hamilton. This is the welder who almost died three times and has the personality and brains of a hamster. After a while of silence, he gains his composure and sings “If Tomorrow Never Comes” and I was just hoping the end would come. I’ve already wasted enough time typing about Jesse so I’ll leave it at that.

Another annoying performance was the chick, Holly Hardin, who dressed up as a guitar. She sings “You Ain’t Woman Enough To Take My Man” and what was crazy is that she had a decent voice. Not sure if she was trying to pull off what Norman Gentle did last year by putting on an act or it was just a ploy to make it to Hollywood but the next time she sings, she best be dressed as a girl instead of a musical instrument.

One of the better girls of the night was Mallorie Haley who did Faith Hill’s “Piece of my Heart” and did a good job. She has a cute face, a nice voice, but not the best personality. I guess Meatloaf said it best saying, “two out of three ain’t bad.”

More waste of time was in the form of Antonio Wheeler, aka Ski Bo or Ski Boy? Not sure what the hell he was saying or if he had created his own language that no one else but him understands. I believe he sang “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” and all judges liked him except Simon. The guy has the chance to be this year’s Tatiana Del Toro as the years’ most annoying contestant. He needs to calm down and act normal.

Then came the annoying BFFs in Carmen Turner and Lauren Sanders. Let’s just call them the Pretty Blonde and the Creepy Brunette. Both girls are so confident that they will make it to Hollywood but after hearing them sing, only one had a chance. So, the blonde in Carmen makes it so that could be the end of their friendship. But, I know it won’t be long before Carmen and Lauren are reunited. Reunited, and it feels so good…

One of the better guys of the night was Bryan Walker, the cop. He could be this year’s Michael Sarver. He did an above adequate job singing “Superstar.” He could be a dark horse to get into the Top 24 but if he makes the Top 12, I’d be shocked.

Then, it was time for some unemployed A-hole to sing in Lamar Royal who doesn’t know how to sing. That showed the second he started “singing” “Kiss From A Rose” and then kept on singing and was shocked that the judges didn’t like him. Unemployed and frustrated could lead to robbery. If you live in Goldsboror, NC, I’d lock your doors at night !

Finally, there was one final audition in General Larry Platt who was 62 years old and sung some ridiculous song called “Pants On The Ground.” It sort of reminded me of that other moron last year singing “I Am Your Brother”. Can’t think of his name. Anyway, this was just filler as he is 62. Wish they would have showed some more talent from Atlanta if there was any.

Personally, I don’t think ANYONE from Atlanta is worthy of Top 12 but if anyone, I’d have to go with: Keia Johnson, Jermaine Sellers, and Bryan Walker.

Until next week…Birdman Out.

Season 9: Boston Auditions

2010-01-13T06:08:00.000-08:00

Well, season 9 kicked off with the Boston auditions and with Victoria Beckham as the guest judge. First of all, it was good to actually see her talk instead of just stand there and smirk. However, is it me or does she look like a frog? Anyway, here are my thoughts on the Boston auditions.

Kicking off the show was the first inbred (for you rookies, that is the by-product of two first cousins mating) Janet McNamara. She destroys Natasha Bedingfield's "Pockeftul of Sunshine." I guess since she was up first, they let this audition go on way longer than my ears could handle. She says she's only been singing for two years using the Idol Karoke game for training. I guess that turned out to be a waste of a Christmas present.

The first "real" singer was Maddy Curtis, the homely 16 year old read head with a down Syndrome brother. She has 9 blood siblings and then her parents decided to start collecting other Down Syndrome kids. Not to be mean, but do you really need so many kids? Does the father know what a condom is? Anyway, this chick has a story so you know she's a lock for the Top 24 unless she really cracks down in Hollywood. She sings "Hallelujah" and does a nice job. It was a little "churchy" for me but no complaints.

There was then this loser named Pat Ford. This could have been one of the more pathetic auditions of the night doing Britney Spears' "Womanizer." If anyone was the complete opposite of womanizer, it is definitely Pat Ford. Okay Pat...you have a PENIS so please do not sing female pop songs. He then calls Simon "sassy." What is wrong with this guy. He definitely has issues. Maybe the producers of Idol should give him the phone number of Danny "Danielle" Noriega as I can see them being best of friends.

Amadeo Dirocco sings some song that I've never heard of. This guy is a hard core Italian and he seemed more fit for MTV's Jersey Shore than he did for American Idol. He actually did a decent job but he will never make it to the Top 24.

We then get another creepy guy in Derek Hilton who looks a bit like Bucky Covington with bad acne. He mentioned twice about "touching kids all over the world." I thought Michael Jackson already had that job so please, no pedofiles allowed on the show ! Time to catch a bus back to your Texas Polygamist sect to hand out with freaks like Warren Jessops.

We also get another creepy girl in Mere Doyle who has this thing about Japan and Japanese animation. I feel bad for losers like Mere who's family, vocal coaches, theater directors, friends, etc keep on telling her how good of a singer she is instead of telling her she's like that owl from the Blow Pop commercials - she SUCKS.

One guy who didn't get a lot of play last night was Luke Shaffer who sings "Secondhand Seranade" and did a good job. He has a good look and hopefully he gets more play in Hollywood so people can actually remember who he is. He's could turn out to be this year's Matt Giraud, the guy who gets so little play and makes it deep.

My favorite really bad contestant of the night was Andrew Fenlon. He was the guy with the Clark Kent glasses, who looks like a cross between Joquin Phoenix and Lou Diamond Phillips and kept on complaining on how long the waiting time was. This segment went on way too long and I'm not sure if this guy was just crazy and didn't get it OR if he was just acting to get TV time. Either way, he's a goner.

My true favorite of the night was Ashley Rodriguez. This girl is going DEEP. She has the look - a cross between Rosario Dawson and Jordin Sparks. She has the voice. She has the personality. The one thing she doesn't have is the story. She has no retarded family members. She has no deaths or diseases. She has no father in prison. She's just grown up with no issues but hopefully her voice can carry her. She did a fantastic job singing Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You." Remember the name - Ashley Rodriguez. She's a LOCK for the Top 12 unless she really botches a song.

Another standout was Tyler Grady, the drummer schmuck with the bushy Justin Guarini hair who fell out of a tree and broke both writs. What a dope. They'll fix this guy up with a makeover but unfortunately, there's nothing they can do about his pig nose. But, he's got a great voice which showed during his rendition of "Let's Get It On."

Lisa Olivero kicked off day too yelling "Vision of Love" by Marian Carey. Don't people watch American Idol? You DON'T sing Mariah Carey. You have almost no chance singing a song like that as good as Mariah.

Mike Davis is a big question mark for me. He's the actor on the speedboat named "Codzilla." I can see him having the fate of a Chris Richardson if he continues to grow in the competition but he's pure boy band material. He sings "Yesterday" by the Beatles and I liked it. I just don't know if he can pull off being a soloist as I can see him more in a cheezy boy band. Still, I'm gonna root for the kid.

Then there was Katie Stevens, the Portuguese girl who has a story. Her story is that her grandmother is in the early stages of Alzheimer's and she want to sing for her as long as her grandma remembers who she is. I'm sure if this girl goes deep, grandma will need to be moved to a special home for professionals to take care of her. I know my grandmother when she had that horrific disease couldn't handle being in a regular house and needed care and once they start pooping themselves, it's time to get some better care. But, how can you not root for Katie. She's young and cute and can sing as she showed us belting out "At Last." She has a true chance of making it to the Top 24.

This next guy got a gift pass to Hollywood - Joshua Blaylock, the 28 year old who sang "Broken Road" and did an average job. Simon told him to be "more assertive" but this kid was the total opposite. He got the pass to Hollywood as he's a lock to fail and they need some people that will fall flat on their face getting to that round and Josh is the perfect candidate to mess up.

One of my other favorites besides Ashley Rodriguez was Justin Williams. He's this year's Danny Gokey. While Danny played the D.W.C. - Dead Wife Card - Justin is playing the C.C. - Cancer Card. But, he's CANCER FREE right now so that is GREAT. He conquered the disease and is auditioning for Idol and he's actually really good. He's got a good look which girls will love and the guy can sing. She sings "Feelin' Good" and did a fantastic job. He looks a bit soap operaish but I liked the guy. With his story, looks, and voice, look for Justin Williams to be a lock for the Top 24 and really could get into the Top 10 if he plays his cards right.

One of the funniest looking contestants EVER was next in Norberto Guerrero. Simon had the best line saying he "sings like a 3 year old girl and dresses like Latoya Jackson." When he came out, I thought he looked like a lion with his hair. What was up with that mane? This guy is stuck in the 80's. Dude...this is an audition for a show in 2010; it's not a 80's Halloween contest. He totally destroyed "Every Time We Touch" and I can't talk about this guy anymore as I feel myself about to regurgitate my coffee.

The next contestant has the best name since Anoop Desai. It's Bosa Mora, the Nigerian who looks like Djimon Hounsou. He sings George Strait's "You Look So Good In Love" which I've never heard of before. He's a bit boring and stiff and has N.S.I.H. - No Shot In Hell - of getting past the Hollywood Round. So, enjoy your golden ticket Bosa as that's the last ticket you'll have until your plane ticket home !

The final contestant was Leah Laurenti. She had a pretty look but her skirt was a bit too short showing off a little chunk in her legs. But, now that she has a ticket to Hollywood, I'm sure she'll work on that baby fat and help in her makeover. She did a good job singing "Blue Skies" but the song was too old school for her. She should have done something more modern but it was enough to advance.

So the BEST were: Ashley Rodriguez and Justin Williams.
And some other GOOD ones were: Maddy Curtis, Tyler Grady, Mike Davis, Katie Stevens and Leah Laurenti

See ya tomorrow for the next audition night !

Birdman Out.

Idol Is Back !

2010-01-11T14:05:00.000-08:00

It's been almost 8 months since Kris Allen pulled the biggest upset in American Idol history and upset Adam Lambert. But, now the fun is back and so am I from my long hiatus. This should be an interesting year. How are we supposed to watch the judges without Paula Abdul making off beat comments and watching that train wreck say basically nothing to the contestants. Part of the allure of Idol was seeing what Paula would say next. Will Kara be as annoying this year as last year? Will Randy have more to say that his Dawg Pound comments? How is Simon going to be now that Paula is not there especially with rumors that this could be his last and final year? And how will we be able to take Ellen DeGeneres seriously? This is American Idol, not the Ellen show. I hope they don't put too much focus on her.

I love the start of Idol each year as I watch so many of these losers who don't get a golden ticket proclaim that "you haven't see the last of me" or "I'm gonna be huge and sell millions of records." I wonder what supermarket all of these failures are working on now and how many records they've sold. Answer: NONE. Most people that make the top 24 barely get a chance to sell records. And even the ones that make it deep have a hard time as well. Let's take Allison Irritating (Ireheta) for example. Everyone claimed she was SO good and was going to sell a ton of records. Well, she sold a pathetic 35,000 units in her album's first week. Of the 35,000 sales, I'm guessing that 1,000 of the sales are from her neighbors in her trailer park leaving 34,000 album sales that came from elsewhere. If you then take another 1,000 from people from her high school and another 3,000 from her hometown, that 30,000 albums sold out of the hundreds of millions of people in the country. So, I'd say that's pretty pathetic. I guess when you are a screaming pig, no one wants to buy your music. So far, 74,000 units have sold meaning there is 74,000 CDs out there that probably got played once and now rest in the jewel case.

But, I guess 74,000 units is amazing when you take last year's early favorite Danny Gokey. He hasn't sold a single album yet since his CD doesn't come out until March. Not sure what took him so long but in March, no one will give a crap about his CD as we'll be ready to hear the Top 24 sing so he really screwed up.

I thought this past season was a solid season. However, we'll never hear again from Jasmine Murray, Jorge Nunez, Alexis Grace and Tatoo Girl Megay Joy. It's even more pathetic that I remember their names. And how can we forget blind guy Scott MacIntyre. Wait until his CD comes out and rocks the charts. Then, there was Lil Rounds, Anoop Desai and Matt Giraud. Out of this group, Giraud has the most potential but I think we've seen the last of these three as well.

That leaves us with our finalists - Kris Allen and Adam "Glambert" Lambert. While Kris won American Idol, Lambert is winning the sales war outselling Allen 434,000 to 228,000 units.

Who's going to win this year? Will it be someone like Kelly Clarkson who can sing and dominate the charts while blowing up like a fat whale? Justin Guarini has had a great career since that defining moment. Will it be someone as obese as Ruben Studdard who had a nice smooth voice but should have never beat Clay Aiken. Will it be someone as annoying as Fantasia who was obviously going to be Diana Degarmo?. I really hope no one wastes their time watching her reality show "Fantasia For Real" on VH1. Or will it be someone like Carrie Underwood who has dominated the country and pop charts since beating Bo Bice? Will it be someone like Taylor Hicks looking more like my dentist than a pop star beating Katherine McPhee while Chris Daughtry should have beaten either of these two? Or will it be someone like Jordin Sparks who has had a solid pop career since beating that beat boxing loser in Blake Lewis? Or will we get someone who can rock like David Cook who beat good two shoes Disney boy David Archuleta? That leaves 4 female winners and 4 male winners.

So, with this being the 9th season and maybe final season with Simon, I'd like to give out awards to some prior contestants:

WORST SEASON & WORST FINAL 3 - Season 3 - Fantasia Barrino, Diana DeGarmo and Jasmine Trias.

WORST DECISION TO QUIT THE SHOW - Mario Vasquez in Season 4.

MOST FORGETTABLE CONTESTANT IN THE TOP 12 (A TIE) - Melissa McGhee (Season 5) and Camille Velasco (Season 3)

BEST LEGS - Haley Scarnato (Season 6)

DUMBEST CONTESTANT - Kellie Pickler (Season 5)

MOST ANNOYING CONTESTANT (A TIE) - Mikalah Gordon (Season 4) and Paris Bennett (Season 5)

WORST FEMALE VOICE - Megan Joy Corkrey (Season 8)

BEST TATTO'S - Carly Smithson (Season 7)

WORST TATTO'S - Megan Joy Corkrey (Season 8)

BIGGEST POT HEAD - Jason Castro (Season 7)

BEST DREADS - Jason Castro (Season 7)

BIGGEST TRAIN WRECK SINCE LEAVING IDOL (Tie) - Nikki McKibbin (Season 1) - Celebrity Rehab w/ Dr. Drew (Season 2) & Jessica Sierra (Season 4) - Celebirty Rehab w/ Dr. Drew (Season 1)

CONTESTANT MOST LIKELY IN PRISON - Corey Clark (Season 2 - disqualified)

BEST CAREER FOR A NON-TOP 5 FINISHER - Jennifer Hudson (Season 3)

WORST MALE VOICE (Tie) - Matthew Rogers (Season 3) and John Stevens (Season 3)

BIGGEST SHOCK - Daughtry Eliminated At #4 (Season 4)

BIGGEST HEAD SCRATCHER - Anthony Federov and Scott Savol finishing ahead of Constantine Maroulis (Season 4)

CHEESIEST CONTESTANT - Ace Young (Season 5)

MOST OVERRATED WINNER - Fantasia Barrino (Season 3)

BIGGEST POST IDOL SURPRISE - Bucky Covington's successfuly country career (Season 5)

FEMALE ROCKER WANNABE AWARD (Tie) - Allison Ireheta (Season 8) & Amanda Overmyer (Season 7)

BEST LOOKING CONTESTANT WHEN ACNE ISN'T VISIBLE - Carmen Rasmusen (Season 2)

FEMALE SIMON HAD THE BIGGEST CRUSH ON - Christina Christian (Season 1)

STRANGEST LOOKING CONTESTANT IN TOP 12 - Kevin "Chicken Little" Covias (Season 5)

BEST BLIND GUY - Scott MacIntyre (Season 8)

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT BASED ON EARLY AUDITIONS - Chris Sligh (Season 6)

WORST ALL AROUND CONTESTANT IN IDOL HISTORY - Sanjaya Malakar (Season 6)

MOST SCREWED FOR NOT MAKING TOP 12 - Josiah Lemming (Season 7)

Well, it's time to get under way....a toast to season 9....the fun begins tonight !

And The Winner is...

2009-05-21T05:27:00.001-07:00

This is the night we've all been waiting for to see who gets crowned American Idol and if I'm having a baby. The fact that I'm typing this right now may give you one of the answers already unless you are a moron and can't figure it out.

Anyway, before we get into the results, I have to make some comments on the 2 hour + show we had to sit thru. Well, it's a lot less time with DVR to fast forward through some of the nonsense.

1. Why did they have to have Mikalah Gordon as a correspondent again? She's so disgusting and annoying. Listen Mikelah, you are NOT Fran Dresher. You didn't even make the Top 10 on American Idol. And Sanjaya Malakar and William Hung have sold more CDs then you could even imagine.

2. The Golden Idol Awards. Right when I heard they were doing the awards again, three names immediately stood out: Norman Gentle, Bikini Girl, and Tataina Del Toro. And it turns out, these three stooges were the winners of three different awards.

3. Norman Gentle, after winning a Golden Idol Award, got to perform his routine in front of millions of people singing his version of "And I Am Telling You.". He's never going to sell out arenas doing his shtick but I can see him able to do the comedy club circuit with his act.

4. Later in the show, Katrina Darrell, aka Bikini girl, won her award and showed off her new set of boobs. She always and the nice body but she went the Kelli Pickler route and got a nice new set of bazongas ! She sings "Vision of Love" in her trademark bikini. She struggles through the first part of the song and out comes Kara trying to sing over her and obviously singing much better but so annoying (even though all staged). This Kara chick just loves her self. She then rips open her outfit to sing in a Bikini of her own. Okay...enough of this.

5. The final Idol award went to none other than Tatiana. She is more annoying than Allison Irritating, Mikehah Gordon, Paris Bennett, Natalie Maines, Hillary Clinton, Rosie O'Donnell, Starr Jones, Gordon Ramsey, and the entire Lohan family all put together. This Tatiana girl loved herself all auditions and thank the lord she never made the Top 13. She can't sing. Her legs are so fat that she has no right wearing such a short skirt. And she is just a disgusting individual. I know this was all staged but the fact that I had to see this chick again on national TV brought back horrific memories.

6. There were some cool performances that I'd like to touch on as well. One of my favorites of the night was Lil Rounds doing a duet with Queen Latifah. What I noticed at first was how much bigger the Queen's butt was than Lil Rounds. Lil Rounds always had Big Rounds in the buttocks but compared to Latifah, it was more Lil Rounds. So, after watching this duet, I wondered why she didn't sing like that all season? She was great. That was her best performance since early on doing the Mary J. Blige song. She was lil' good last night and if she had done more performances like that, she would have been around a lil' longer.

7. Is it me or does anyone think Fergie is "hot"? I think she's disgusting and her voice is not even that good. When Jasmine Murray sings some better notes than Fergie, you know there are issues with the performance.

8. Not counting John Parr's "St. Elmo's Fire" and Mr. Mister's "Kyrie", my third favorite 80's song is Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time." As soon as I heard that Cyndi was doing it with Allison Irritating, I got so depressed. This could have been a great performance if anyone other than Allison was singing and botching this song. Her "rocker" voice seems so forced and unnatural. Allison, please do the Idol tour, and then go back to your trailer park and choose a new aspiration, like maybe becoming a clerk at your local K-mart. You may think I'm crazy but she'll be lucky to sell as many CDs as Jasmine Trias or Diana DeGarmo.

9. With all the Lionel Richie songs out there, why is Danny Gokey singing "Hello." He sings it well with Lionel but "Hello" was all David Cook last year and they keep on having someone sing a version not as good as Cook's last year.

10. I thought it was funny that the two contestants with the worst voices - Michael Sarver and Megan Joy - had to sing with Steve Martin playing a banjo. It was quite painful hearing them sing. I think my ear oozed some blood.

11. Whey didn't then give Scott MacIntyre any solo lines? They should have gotten someone to sing with him at the piano. Idol missed out on a potentially great moment. Scott could be this year's 4th best selling artist behind Kris, Adam, and Danny.

12. I loved Adam's performance with Kiss. He could totally be a lead singer for a rock band. Curiously, what girl out there would want Gene Simmons tongue down your throat?

13. So, I'm getting close to the live feed. It's past 10:00 and I'm basically watching around 9:50 when Adam and Kris were singing "We Are The Champions" with Queen less the dead lead singer. Then, all of a sudden, I get an Amber Alert on my screen. There was an abduction in my county and the channel changes to channel 18 (the TV Guide Channel) where they post the alert and "Idol Tonight" is playing in the background. The remote control locks and I can't get back to the DVR. I can't play the show. I am stuck on this channel knowing that I'm so close to hearing who wins. My fear is that when the Amber Alert ends, that FOX could be in the background or the news and I could find out who wins Idol the wrong way. I start cursing and punching the couch as issues during the finale are not new to me. Two years ago, FOX went way over the feed and I missed the end when Jordan won only to find out the winner on the news. Last year, I had a minor blackout before hearing the winner but got to see the end. Finally, I'm able to get off channel 18 and luckily the TV was on channel 2 with "Criminal Minds" on in the background. So, I was able to go back to the DVR to finish the Queen performance. And then the Amber Alert happened again. SHIT ! I'm stuck again. Then, it clears up and I'm able to go back to the show on DVR. They are now both standing with Ryan getting ready to announce the winner and I get the Amber Alert again. Can you F**KING believe this nonsense. So, while this Amber Alert is on my screen, behind the writing on "Idol Tonight" (TV guide's pre and post show), it looks like Adam just hugged someone and was happy. I was so MAD that I had thought that the winner was ruined watching through the writing of this Amber Alert. I wasn't upset that Adam won but I hate watching a show for 5 months to find out this way. Finally, the TV unlocks and I go back to the DVR to resume watching. Ryan then announces that the winner of American Idol Season 8 is.....KRIS ALLEN. What? I could have sworn I just saw Adam win but I guess it was during a prior week's elimination when he hugged someone. So, the fact that Kris Allen won American Idol is a total shock to begin with but the fact that I thought I saw Adam win and then am told that Kris won made it that much more shocking. Wow, the underdog, the dark horse, pulled it off.

14. Kris must have gotten all of Danny Gokey's votes from last week. There is also the Wal*Mart factor where there are over 200,000 employees working for them, plus about 100,000,000 shoppers each week go through Wal*mart's doors and that all relates to Arkansas where Kris is from.

14. It's the week of the underdog. First Shawn Johnson wins Dancing With The Stars. Before that, Helen, another underdog, won Biggest Loser. And now Kris Allen takes American Idol.

15. As for Adam, he'll be fine. He's probably relieved that he won't be locked into a CD that has Kara's "No Boundaries" on it. He'll be fine. He'll tour. He'll sell CDs. He'll be on Broadway. He'll be fine. And maybe, if we are lucky, he'll become that Rum Tug Tugger one day.

16. My good friend hated Adam and said that if Adam Lambert won American Idol that the world would end. I'm happy to say that we can now all continue to live our lives.

17. So, Kris Allen is our American Idol. I'm definitely happy for the guy and I think he'll need American Idol a bit more than Adam would. He'll have a nice career and a good ending to a good season.

18. If you still didn't figure it out, I we didn't have the baby yet.

And, we'll see ya next year....

Birdman Out !

Let The Finals Begin...

2009-05-20T05:24:00.001-07:00

We all know that each season, the final two contestants have to sing that sappy coronation song that is written for them. All of these songs are basically saying the same thing, have the same lyrics, have a similar tune, and are like a tree - sappy. So, before we get started, I decided to write the chorus of what should be this year's final song since I think it will sound something like this: (I won't EVER be singing this out loud)

"A moment like this,"
is so special because,
"this is the night,"
where I'll be,
"flying without wings,"
ooooh and since,
"I believe," that,
"inside your heaven,"
I'll truly wonder,
"do I make you proud,"
knowing that this is "my destiny,"
and "this is my now,"
all because this is the "time of my life,"
while "in this moment."

So, we now have season favorite Adam Lambert vs underdog Kris Allen. For the second year in a row, it's an all male finale. In the past seven seasons, there really hasn't been a major upset in the finals. Kelly was easily going to be Guarini in season one. The Rueben / Clay battle was probably one of the closest and even though Rueben won, that was probably the wrong result. Fantasia, despite how horrific she was, never was going to lose to Diana Degarmo. Carrie Underwood easily took care of Bo Bice. Taylor Hicks got by McFever even though Daughtry owned that season. Jordan Sparks destroyed Blake Lewis. Wonder where Blake is now. Stay tuned to VH1's: Where Are They Now Idol Edition to find out. And last year was probably the closest contest to date with Cook beating Archuleta in the battle of the David's. So, history says that Adam Lambert is our next American Idol but until that confetti is falling on his head, you never know.

Before we critique the performances, let's just do what they do on Survivor and reminisce about this season's fallen contestants:

There was the magic number of 13 this year instead of 12 but 13 was the unlucky number for Jasmine Murray. She was basically this year's Lisa Tucker or Stefanie Edwards, the chick who had a great voice in auditions but disappointed when the pressure was on. Next to get booted was Jorge Nunez. I need captions to understand what this dude was saying. I thought he may have gone a few weeks longer but O.F.W. - Oh Freggin Well. Then, sweet little Alexis Grace got shit-canned. Maybe it was the pink streaks in her hair or maybe it was just some pathetic song choices. She's now working at your local CVS. Michael Sarver is back on his oil rig. In his free time, he's learning how to dance with aspirations of being on the new FOX spin-off, "Dancing With The Ex-Idol Stars." Then, it was Megan Joy, or Megan Joy Corkery, or Megan's turn or whatever the heck her name was for that week. She was the tattooed arm girl who could sing as well as a duck with lyrangitis. She was just as painful as listening to Mikelah Gordon. Then, one of my favorite Idol contestants that I thought should have gone farther, Blind Guy, Scott MacIntyre. You watch, this guy is this decade's N.B.B.S. - Next Big Blind Star. The most disappointing singer in Lil Rounds got fired next. Lil should have been so good but just didn't bring it more than once or twice. She just wasn't getting the judges comments. I miss her a Lil bit...NOT. Anoop Dawg was next to fly the coup. He's currently getting electrolysis for his uni-brow. He could have gone a week or two further if it weren't' for people voting for that red headed girl. Then it was Matt's turn to say good-bye. Matt could have gone further but he was inconsistent having his good weeks and bad weeks. But, the judges save helped the dueling piano player last a bit longer. Surviving longer than she should have was Allison Irritating. Her voice annoyed me more than Fantasia and that bitch with the squeaky voice - Paris Bennett. Allison will be irritating no more. She's back in her trailer park making a spam and cheese sandwich while practicing singing into her cassette recorder. Then, in this season's biggest upset to date, Danny "my wife died" Gokey took the fall. It was a bit shocking but he didn't have that WOW song that David Cook brought almost each week last year. So, for the first time, I was wrong and the D.W.C. - Dead Wife Card - didn't pan out as I expected. This leaves us with Kris Allen vs. Adam Lambert and this is how it went down:

The contestants first song was their favorite from the season. Adam was up first doing "Mad World." I had a feeling he was going to chose over the U2 song he recently sang. I'm not a huge fan of "Mad World" as it's quite boring to me. You can't really knock the performance as it was the song that got Paula and Kara wet all season long. Kris chose "Ain't No Sunshine" which was a great choice. It was either "Sunshine" or that Kanye West song he recently sang. He changed up the song so much it made you even forget that Christina Christian sang that song in season 1. Basically after the first round, it was close but I'd probably give the edge to Kris but not my much more than the width of a pubic hair.

Simon Fuller chose songs to be sung for the next round. Adam put his spin on Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and he did his thing up there. He didn't go too over the top like he can do in some performances and I thought he did a good job based on the song that was given to him. As for Kris, he got stuck with Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" which is one of those songs you always hear sung at a Kerokee or Open Mic Night. This was a horrible choice of a song for not just Kris, but for any contestant this late in the game. I would have liked to have seen Kris make it a bit more his own but the song was just not right for him. He did the best he could with it but not my favorite Kris performance. So, the battle was now tied 1-1 with one round to go.

This year's coronation song or single was written by none other than Kara DioGuardi. First of all, they need to get rid of this girl. She has been so annoying all season and slows down the flow of the show too much having a 4th judge. Plus, every show runs over the allotted time. And most importantly, she's annoying. So, they give this chick the song to write and it could be the worst single written for the finals since Taylor Hicks' "Do I Make You Proud." Right in the 2nd sentence of the song, the lyric is "every moment lasts forever." Oye Vey. There is that word "Moment." The song is called "No Boundaries." Just listen to this: "With every step you climb another mountain, with ever breath it's harder to believe..." If that's not enough to make you puke, I'm not sure what is.

Anyway, first up to sing this S.S. - Shitty Song - is Adam. Basically, sung well for a crap song. Kris then takes a stab at it and the song is so much worse for him. I think he could have even botched a lyric in the middle. But, 3/4ths of the judges said, let's not judge them on this final song and judge them on the entire season. Basically, they are saying the song sucked compared to other songs they've used in the past. The fact that the song was so bad should be enough to kick Kara off of Idol. What is embarrassing is that the song is going to get millions of downloads and tons of radio play from the winner but let's hope people with ears not full of wax realize that the song is horrific and do not give Kara the praise she doesn't deserve. Based on singing alone, Adam wins round #3.

However, it is now in the hands of the American public. Shawn Johnson pulled a huge upset on Dancing With The Stars. Can Kris Allen pull the same type of upset and win American Idol? This is the first year I can remember where I really don't care who wins. However, based on consistency and originality throughout the entire season, I think this year's winner will belong to the Rum Tum Tugger himself, Mr. Adam Lambert.

It's been a fun year. I'll say good-bye now incase I'm watching the finals tonight in the hospital. I'll be like, "Ilisa...hold the baby in for 10 more minutes...they are about to announce the winner." And this year winner is.... Push, Push, Push...it's a baby........

See ya tomorrow of next year...Birdman Out.

Danny Goes Home

2009-05-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

So, in the biggest shocker American Idol has seen since Nikki McKibbin beat Tamayra Gray in season 1, or since Daughtry lost out to Elliot Yamin in season 5, Kris Allen now defeats Danny Gokey.

I guess I was wrong on the finals for the first time in 3 seasons but shit happens !

I was stunned but I think I have a few answers to why this happened:

1.) T.W.M.F. - The Wal*Mart Factor. There are millions of people out there that shop at Wal*Mart, that big company located in Arkansas, Kris Allen's home state. Then, all of the thousands of employees out in Bentonville placed votes as well to help Kris' vote total.

2.) Song Choice. Danny went with two songs that many of the prime voters, aged 10 to 25, are not as familiar with while Kris Allen sang two much more popular songs that our country's youth can relate too.

3.) T.W.F. or The Wow Factor. Kris had two or three WOW performances this season where he totally changed up the song and made it his own. Danny was much more consistent this season but never had that performance that made me go WOW.

4.) T.S.F. - The Sympathy Factor. I guess people were over the producers playing the dead wife card for Danny.

5.) T.B.T. - The Bottom 3. Danny was never in the bottom three so there is a chance that a percentage of his fans just assumed he was safe and voted for who they wanted Danny to go against in the finals.

6.) The Producers just wanted the Gokey vs. Lambert final way too much and Vote For The Worst.com was not gonna allow that to happen.

7.) The Screech - That horrible note from the week prior just lingered on too long in people's minds

.
Well....Adam vs. Kris should be interesting. I can't see Adam losing but stranger things have happened.

Until then...Birdman Out.

Final 3 Perform

2009-05-13T05:43:00.000-07:00

It was a busy Tuesday night with American Idol, Dancing With The Stars, and the 3 hour Biggest Loser Finale so thank the lord for DVR.

Anyway, we are down to the Final 3 and this could be the strongest final three we've ever had. So, let's see how they did last night:

Danny Gokey was up first with a song that Paula chose for him to sing. It was Terence Trent D'Arby's "Dance Little Sister." What can you say. He did what he does best; sing a song with soul. It almost sounded like Danny Gokey doing Michael McDonald doing a cover of Terence Trent D'Arby. However, I liked it. As for the "Wow", it was still missing but not counting a few gaffes along the way, Danny has been pretty consistent all season. What will help Danny out this week is that it was Mother's Day two days ago so the fact that he lost his wife who was someone's daughter, thus making that person a mother, gives him some extra sympathy votes this week. Not quite the Wow" but still a good start to the show.

Next up was dark horse, Kris Allen, performing One Republic's "Apologize" chosen by Randy & Kara. This was not my favorite Kris Allen song. It sounded too much like the original. What I've liked about Kris is that he's really changed up the arrangements each week and this was pretty much an exact cover of the original. I also had to agree with Simon when Kara gave a negative critique of the performance. She chose the song so what the heck was he supposed to do. As for the performance, the high notes in the song were way out of Kris' range and it was just the wrong song choice. I can't blame him as he did the best he could do with what he was given but I would have liked a different arrangement or a different song as it was a bit disappointing. This was far from a Wow.

Then, we get Mr. Lambert, who was lucky enough to have Simon pick his song which was U2's "One." Adam starts off the song like a ballad and then steps it up a notch mid-way through. It was a great arrangement and what you have to applaud is that this guy does make the song his own each week and it's original. I had to say, compared to the first two performances, if you want to win American Idol, you have to come out and make the song your own like Adam just did. I thought it was his best performance of the season and someone should do what's been done by Abba and Billy Joel and make a Broadway show consisting of U2 songs and the show should be called "One" headlined by Adam Lambert. There was one minor yelp towards the end of the song where he stuck his tongue out like a lizard that I could have done without but great performance. He earns a double Wow from me.

Danny was then up with his second song. He chose Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful" and when with the slow arrangement to try and do something different to try and get that Wow. I liked the fact that he changed it up but he's not David Cook and doesn't pull it off as well as David did last season. I'm torn on this one. His stage presence is weak but he sure knows how to sing. I didn't think this was better or worse than his first performance; it was good but still not that Wow heading into the last week of the season.

Next up is Kris Allen. When I heard his song choice, I was shocked. It was "Heartless" by Kanye West. It's a song I don't know and couldn't name a Kanye song if I tried. When I hear Kanye's name, I think: Can't Sing, Cry-Baby, Ass-Hole, No Talent. Kris comes out with the guitar and totally nailed it. If Kanye West was doing his songs like this, then I'd be a Kanye fan in a minute. I actually got up off the couch and gave my first standing ovation of the season. This was great, original, and this could be Kris' niche - take a horrific rap song and change it up. This was a total Wow performance.

Finally, it was Adam Lambert ending the show with Aerosmith's "Cryin" which I was so bummed to hear that he picked. I can't stand Aerosmith and once I head the song choice, I knew exactly what we were going to get - a similar version to the original but with that Lambert spin to it. He did a good job with it but I couldn't stand it. It's amazing how his first song could be so great and his second song could be so annoying.

So, who goes home and who's in the finals?

Back on February 12th, when the Top 36 was revealed, I wrote: "My early pick for the finals: Gokey vs. Lambert."

Then, on March 11th, I picked my Top 5:
1. Danny Gokey
2. Adam Lambert
3. Lil Rounds
4. Scott MacIntyre
5. Matt Giraud

I didn't have Kris Allen that high and was definitely off with Scott MacIntyre. I then wrote on that same day:

I'm torn who will go against Gokey in the finals as it really could be any of the other 4. But, Danny Gokey will win and I'm gonna tell you why. My wife's due date is May 31st. For our first child, we went 14 days before our due date. If you count backwards from the 31st, that gets you close to Tuesday, the 19th where the singers will perform and the following night will be the results. If I was a betting man, I'll be in the hospital when the winner will be announced. Now, we have picked out names for our future child - boy and girl. I won't give you first names but if we have a boy, the middle name we chose was Daniel. Thus, Daniel (Danny) Gokey will be announced as winner of American Idol Season 8.

Based on my earlier predictions, I'm not going to change what I said. So, that being the case, Kris Allen goes home tonight but he'll leave with one hell of a Wow performance.

If I don't catch you next week for the finals, I'll be in the hospital for the birth of the next Harrison baby but hopefully will get my recap out at sometime soon after.

Until then, Birdman Out.

And Then There Were Three...

2009-05-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ding dong, the pig is gone, the wicked pig, the trailer trash pig, dong dong the singing pig is gone.

Actually, Hall & Oats said it best, "She's Gone - what went wrong?" Actually, American went wrong keeping Miss Irritating as long as she's lasted.

American last night was injected with a remedy for Swine Flu as we can no longer catch this disease as the pig has been slaughtered.

Take out those frying pans and start cooking the bacon !

Before we get to the eliminations, what the hell was up with Paula's performance? This chick is an Idol judge and critiques contestants on performances but when she sings on stage for the first time in 8 seasons, she lip syncs her computerized voice. Paula, you are NO longer a pop star, you are a judge. Please...let's keep it that way. How embarrassing will it be when her album drops and the pathetic Jason Castro winds up selling more CDs in his long not-awaited debut.

As for the eliminations, this was long overdue. I couldn't deal with someone as bad as Jasmine Trias in the final 3. Finally, with Allison and Danny standing alone, the news was finally delivered that Danny was safe and Allison was eliminated.

So, we are at the final 3. Until next week, Birdman Out.

OINK OINK !

Final 4 Perform Rock Songs

2009-05-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

We are down to the Final 4. No, I'm not talkin' NCAA hoops; it's American Idol. At last, we are nearing the end from this journey that began in January and here we are in May still freezing our asses off on the east coast.

Adam, Danny, Matt, and Allison are all gunning for the prize but sometimes the prize doesn't pay off. Taylor Hicks won American Idol a few years ago but his album flopped while 4th place finisher Chris Daughtry had his CD go platinum and won American Music and Grammy awards. So, I'm not sure it's beneficial to win American Idol as you could be plenty successful losing at this point.

However, Herm Edwards, an ex-New York Jets coach said it best saying, "You play to win the game." So, that being the case, ya gotta be at the top of your game and try to win this thing even though there have been a few big upsets in the 4 spot. Besides Daughtry leaving at the 4 spot, I feel the only other upset was Season 1's Tamaya Grey going prematurely. Everyone else at the 4 spot couldn't sell an album now if they tried: Josh Gracin, Latoya London, Anthony Federov, LaKisha Jones, and Jason Castro. Actually, Gracin did do well in his debut CD but he's old news. Latoya was probably the best singer in Season 3 but somehow lost out to Fantasia, Diana DeGarmo,and Jasmine Trias which is still the worst Top 3 in the history of American Idol. As for Federov, Jones, and Castro, they weren't good on the show so if they have any aspirations of selling a CD, they must be smokin' Jason Castro's weed and are living in a fantasy land.

And then there's Allison. We are now in crunch time. Anything other than Allison going home this week is a HUGE upset in my book. She's run her course. She's gone as far as she can go. She's not that good and there are three men (or 2 men and a girly-guy) left that's better than Miss Irritating. But, before I eliminate Allison in the prologue, let's see how all of the contestants performed on Rock night with Slash as the mentor. Oh, and there will be two duets as well which is a new addition to Idol.

Adam Lambert is up first to kick off the show with Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." I was disappointed by the song choice as I'm not a Zeppelin fan at all and find them to be annoying. Adam obviously did what he does best putting his spin on this rock classic. I think I was disappointed because with Slash as the mentor and Adam's voice sounding so much like Axel Rose, I really wanted him to sing a Guns N' Roses song which could have been unbelievable. It was not my F.L.P. - Favorite Lambert Performance - but he did exactly what he needed to do to be safe for the night. Actually, the worst part of the performance was his black "rock" outfit which looked more like a costume. I hate nothing more then when the contestant dresses up to be like the genre instead of just dressing themselves on who they are. I thought he looked ridiculous in his black outfit and was more fit for an S&M session than he was for a musical performance.

My favorite red head, Allison Irritating, was up next with her hair looking a bit more purple than red this evening. When Ryan started the show telling us that there were some mishaps, I figured he was referring to the fact that this pig may have spread swine flu to the other contestants and judges. It turns out that was not the issue. She chooses Janis Joplin's "Cry Baby" and, to no surprise, I'm not a Joplin fan either. Everyone says that this genre is perfect for Allison. Personally, I think Rock week is a disaster for Allison where doing a rock song can come off as yelling. And, yelling is what she did. I'm not a fan of Allison but in other genres where you couldn't yell, she sang and showed she had a much better voice than she did last night. I personally don't like her voice, her look, her personality, and her performances but last night I thought was no good. I'd grade her with a D+. She tried to be more talkative to the judges after yelling and it came off more like oinking.

The first duet was then going to be Kris and Danny performing Styx's "Renegade." They actually sounded pretty good together and it was a great song choice. It's hard to really judge the duet as it's not fair how people are paired so I'm not going to really spend much of my time talking about the duets. But, it was good vocals and a good performance.

Without getting much time to relax, it was Kris Allen's turn to take the stage doing the Beatles' "Come Together." If I recall, I think Carly Smithson did this song last year on Idol during Beatles week. This version was not as good as Carly's. It's really hard to do a Beatles song and there are so many songs out there that could have fit Kris better. I liked the fact that he brought out the guitar but the vocals weren't his best and it just wasn't Kris's style. Plus, the band was too loud for Kris' voice. He needed a more mellow rock ballad instead of what he chose. He could be on the bubble of elimination this week.

Danny was the last solo performance of the night doing Aerosmith's "Dream On" which is a song I can't stand. The song is irritating like the Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" where Annie Lennox says "Sweet Dreams" over a hundred times in the song, Steven Tyler sings "Dream On" at least a hundred times in the song. And, that was pretty much what Danny did...just sing and yell the words "Dream On" over and over and over again. It could have been Danny's worst performance of the season culminated with that horrific note he screeched at the end. I want Danny to stay and with David Cook's brother passing away earlier in the week, I hope they sympathy votes were out in full force last night to keep him in this competition.

The show ended with Adam and Allison duetting Foghat's "Slow Ride" and they actually did a good job together. Plus, it came after Danny's botched high note so anything could have sounded better after that. Again, I'd rather not go into depth on the duets as I don't think the pairings were fair so I'll just say that they did a better duet than Kris and Danny earlier in the evening.

With four people left, I'm not sure they are doing to do a bottom 3 so I'll go with a bottom two of Kris and Allison. It's a toss up. I'd like the all boys final 3 and I can't stand piggy so I'm saying Allison finally, please, I hope, goes home this evening.

Birdman Out.

Matt Gets Eliminated

2009-04-30T08:01:00.000-07:00

It was a bizarre elimination. Danny and Allison were safe leaving Matt, Kris, and Adam, yes, Adam, in the bottom 3.

How the hell does Allison get more votes than Adam? It can't be based on looks. It can't be based on talent. This is all "Vote For The Worst" effecting the elimination.

Then, Ryan lets one go back to the couch and you'd think it would be Adam but it was Kris.

So, it was down to Adam and Matt and we all know what happened from there.

We now have the Final 4 - Adam, Danny, Allison, and Kris. Based on last night's voting, is it possible that Danny can beat out Adam?

We shall see. Until then, Birdman Out.

The Top 5 Croon The Rat Pack

2009-04-29T06:02:00.001-07:00

We are down to the Final 5 and this is a huge week; not just because of another elimination, but because of history.

Here's Idol's previous 7 contestants to go down at the 5 spot: R.J. Helton, Trenyce, George Huff, Scott Savol, Paris Bennett,Chris Richardson, and Brooke White. I know Helton, Bennett, and White each put out a CD. You can probably be 1 of a few hundred to buy that CD if you go on Amazon. So, basically, going home in this week marks the end of your career despite the judges saying "This is just the beginning...." That's nonsense. It's basically the END unless you are Jennifer Hudson who pulled off fame leaving in the 7 spot. So, the pressure is on. Let's see how it played out:

This week's theme is songs popularized by the Rat Pack. Basically, it is crooner songs that all sound alike and not my favorite theme for this late in the competition. It is not the easiest theme and I had a feeling that not many people were going to change it up and modernize it. But, let's see how it went:

Kris Allen hits the stage first. He's SO this year's Chris Richardson or Jason Castro. The difference is that Kris can sing and is a better looking guy to appeal to those teenage girls, the same girls that drool and get wet over Zac Efron. Kris is such an underdog from the second he popped up on that first week of the Top 36 pulling off the upset and making it to the top 12. I'm not sure if he can overcome the popularity of a Lambert or Gokey but he could make things interesting after this week when there could be that big Week #4 upset and Kris has the tools to make that happen. I heard yesterday that I-Tunes accidentally released how many downloads have been paid for on the top Idol contestants. Surprisingly, Kris Allen was #2 ahead of Gokey (and Lambert was #1.) Kris chose to sing "The Way You Look Tonight" and it was okay. It was a good cover of the original version but I wanted more. I wanted him to totally change up the whole croon thing and whip out the guitar and make it his own. With only five people left, he could be a candidate for the bottom three.

My favorite red head was next in the form of Allison Irritating and she can not make it to the Top 4. She's horrific. I've said it before but she's worse than last year's Amanda Overmeyer. This girl is Porky Pig with this red hair that doesn't even look real. I wonder if it's a wig? Her bottom teeth need some serious work. When she talks it looks as if she has globs of wet tobacco stuffed in her lower lip. It's just repulsive. Yeah, I'm hard on her but it's not just her looks that gross me out; it's her singing. As for her looks, she makes Natalie Maines (of the Dixie Chicks) come off as hot and she's on top of my B.P.L. - Biggest Pigs List. Yeah, there's always one person that disgusts me each year from Fantasia, to Paris Bennett to Mikalah Gordon to Amanda Overmeyer to Vanessa Oliverez to Ryan Starr. It just so happens that Allison Irritating is this year's gross contestant that can't sing. She sings "Someone To Watch Over Me" and it was actually her best performance of the year. WAIT. I'm not saying I liked it but she showed that she actually can sing a song instead of yell a song. It's still far from my cup of tea and she's a lock this week for the Bottom 3 but I've seen a lot worse from her this season. Happy Birthday Allison...the end is near !

Matt Giraud, our dueling pianist (I hate that word as it sounds like penis) was up next. Matt is like Jekyll and Hyde...one minute he's good and the next minute he's bad. Timberlake he's not when it comes to dancing but he could sing a good groove when he picks the right song choice and is on. I liked the fact that he was wearing the hat low down to cover up that huge mole in the middle of his forehead. He's gonna have to get that thing removed. Matt's choice this week was "My Funny Valentine" and I didn't think it was as good as Simon thought. I thought it was a bit off to start but then the last minute I really enjoyed. I thought this should have been the week for Matt to return to his roots and get back on the piano. I think we have another contestant in the bottom 3.

It was now Gokey time. Danny wife is still listening from the grave and holding his hand all the way as she knows he's so close. His story would make a great plot line for Ghost 2 if he could make it to the finals. David Cook rode the "brother-got-brain cancer" story last year so why can't the "dead wife thing" work in his favor as we near the end. Come on, if he does just as good as one of the other contestants and you don't know who to call in for, don't you think the voters, at this stage of the game, are going Danny over another due to his story? Stories sell and that's why People Magazine is in business. Don't get me wrong, I like Danny a lot but we are coming down the wire and I really want the dead wife to push him to give him that "WOW" performance ala David Cook that I know he can do and that I'm waiting for. Danny was singing "Come Rain Or Come Shine" which is a song I'm not too familiar with and he did a great job and could have had the performance of the night. Since I don't know the song well, it doesn't qualify for that "WOW" performance I'm waiting for but it was really good. For me, the "WOW" needs to be a popular song that everyone knows that is changed so much that you just go, "WOW"...that was good. But, good job Daniel.

Finally, it was Adam Lambert's turn and he has got to be the favorite to win it all at this point with the originality he brings each week. Yeah, he's over-dramatic and turns so many songs into an Axel Roseish 80's ballad but it's different. Despite being so Broadway, he's got stage presence and really knows how to change it up. I'm not sure I can listen to him sing 10 straight songs on a CD but I'm convinced I can watch and listen to him sing and perform 10 songs on stage. I've said it once, and I've said it again; he's the Rum Tum Tugger. Basically, I really didn't know what this was until my friend mentioned it and the Tugger isn't even a singer - it's a character in "Cats" on Broadway called "the Rum Tum Tugger." After watching a performance by the R.T.T. on YouTube, I totally agree with my friend that Lambert could walk right into this role. He was singing "Feelin' Good" and he really changed it up and modernized it, giving the song a rock edge, unlike the other four contestants. And he did a great job and had one hell of a note towards the end.

I'm not sure if there is going to be a Bottom 3 tonight with only five left but if there is, I'm gonna say: Kris, Matt, and Allison. Kris goes back to the couches first leaving Matt and Allison as the bottom 2. And Allison goes home giving Idol the first Top 4 being all male.

And that's the scoop. Catch ya tomorrow. Same bird time, same bird channel.

Birdman Out.

Lil & Anoop's Journey Ends

2009-04-24T06:13:00.000-07:00

Lil went home first which made perfect sense.
Then, it was between Allison and Anoop.

I wanted Allison so badly to go home but unfortunately, the run of Slumdog Millionaire has come to an end.

Next week's Bottom 2 should be Allison and Matt as we only have 5 left.

See ya next week. Birdman Out.

Top 7 Go Disco

2009-04-22T05:41:00.001-07:00

We are back at the Top 7 again with Matt getting the judges save last week. Now it was time to see what the contestants got for disco night. Remember, two people are going home this week. So, let's see what happened:

Lil started off the show with Chaka Kahn's "I'm Every Woman" which is a huge mistake because that song was remade by Whitney Houston and one of the things you don't do in American Idol is sing a Whitney Houston song as you'll never be able to pull off a better cover. Yeah, yeah...I know she did the Chaka Kahn version but Chaka Kahn, Chaka Kahn. Chaka Kahn I wanna tell ya that Lil was really bad, I wanna love her so much, but it's really really sad.... Okay....I spared you my singing of that. Lil's performance was a lil bad, a lil not good, a lil disappointing, a lil boring, a lil of the same thing we see from Lil week after week. She's just not getting it. She could be one of the most disappointing contestants we've every had on this show because we all know Lil can sing but she just is not having great performances and picks the wrong song each week. Lil is a lock for the bottom 3 this week.

Kris Allen was up next taking a huge risk with his version of Donna Summer's "She Works Hard For The Money." And ya know what? The risk paid off. As he sung, I knew the lyrics he was singing but I kept on saying to my self, "What song is this..." Then, once he got to the chorus, I knew exactly what he was singing and that made me like it even more. I loved how he changed it up and made it so original and unrecognizable. This was definitely Kris's "WOW" performance. The best part was that it didn't even sound like a disco song and the fact that he pulled off a Donna Summer song is extra points for the K-man.

Following Kris was Danny Gokey's "September" by Earth, Wind, and Fire. It was a very good cover and I like the way he injected some of his Gokey soul into the song but the problem was that it came off as a cover whereas Kris Allen's performance came off as a totally different song. I'm still waiting for the "WOW" from Gokey. Don't get me wrong; I still love it. But, I want to see more. I want him to pull off something so original that everyone would be talking about it the next day. This guy is a great talent and he's still going to go far but with Kris Allen getting better and better each week, Danny better step up his game if he wants to make it to the finals.

Then came Allison Irritating. She looked like a cross between Miss Piggy and the Griswald daughter in "National Lampoon's European Vacation" while wearing some Sci-Fi outfit. Miss Irritating yelled her version of Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" and for me, it was "Bad Stuff." I think the judges know that Lil is the worst female left and they want to keep a female in this competition so they are giving her good comments to sway the voting public to keeping her in. Personally, she's horrendous. She's a great yeller but a terrible singer. She "sings" like she is squeezing out diarrhea while suffering a bout of lyrangitis.

Mr. Adam Lambert was up next and I was very curious to see what he was going to attempt. This night, he goes with "If I Can't Have You" written by the Bee Gees, performed by YYvonne Elliman for the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack but then also later performed by the Bee Gees. Enough with my musical history lesson. He went with the slow down arrangement and only had two giant yelps towards the end of the song which he could have toned down a bit. But, this was the performance of the entire season and basically could be the clincher for him to win it all. It was just really good from beginning to end. Plus, it was original. If you can sing and put your own spin on a song, you'll go far. He did just that.

Matt Giraud, saved by the judges last week, was singing again. His choice for the week was the Bee Gee's "Stayin' Alive." Wow...interesting choice being that "Stayin Alive" is one of the Top 10 most popular 70's songs ever made. He had the Justin Timberlake hat and outfit going in his favor and his vocals were pretty good. However, unlike Justin was the dancing which needs a major improvement. Howeve,r I thought he did a good job with an overly popular song. I would have loved for him to redeem himself in front of the piano and put a slower spin on the song but he gave the song some soul and I actually liked it.

And who would have thought that they were going to let Anoop close out the show. The parents of the little girl in "Slumdog Millionaire" may be trying to sell her for $400K but not Annop's parents. He sang Donna Summer's "Dim All The Lights." Once I heard that, I thought, "Wow...it took a lot of brown testicles (aka BALLS) to pick that song." I loved the way he started with the slow arrangement and picked it up a little bit. He even looked good with the pink mixed into his outfit and the scruff on his face. I thought it was Anoop's best performance of the season and it sounded a bit Yamin-ish to me. Good way to end disco night.

So, who is the bottom three? I'm going to have to say Lil, Allison and Matt could be in trouble. If that's wrong, then Anoop probably replaces Matt or Allison in the bottom 3. But, I'm gonna stick with Lil, Allison,and Matt. With two people going home, I'm gonna have to say that it shoud be Lil and Allison. I hope it's not Matt so I'm really rooting for them to get rid of Allison already as she's the most overrated contestant Idol has ever seen.

And that's the scoop. I'm gonna go hit the disco round and we'll find out who's a goner. Until then, Birdman Out.

Judges Use "The Save"

2009-04-16T05:59:00.000-07:00

So, it was time to eliminate one to make the final 6.

First person to stand up was Allison and she was safe. What a joke. This really bothers me. I guess she's getting votes from her trailer trash friends and the vote for the worst.

Anyway, the bottom three turns out to be Anoop, Lil, and Matt. I had Matt and Lil correct but Anoop didn't really belong there this week.

Anoop goes back to the couches and it's between Matt and Lil. The judges say that there could be one of the people standing there that could be the judges save and that the person would be shocked.

I totally thought it was gonna be Lil getting the save but it was Matt and he'll be back next week.

So, basically, the judges just wanted to use the save which really negates the use of the save.

The save should be if there was a SHOCKING elimination but at this stage of the game, I feel that the save should only have been used if Adam or Danny got prematurely eliminated.

Anyway, for disco night, next week's bottom three should be: Lil, Anoop, and Allison.

Until then, Birdman Out.

Top 7 Perform Movie Songs

2009-04-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

After getting over Scotty Mac's elimination last week, it was time for the Top 7 to performs songs from the movies with Quentin Tarantino as the mentor. Movie night gives the final 7 so many songs to choose from so again, song choice is key.

First off, Ryan tells us they are changing things for the evening not to run over the allotted hour as they did last week where most of America, if they didn't extend their DVR, missed the final song. So, judges were going to speak in groups of two with Paula and Simon being grouped together and Randy and Kara as a duo. This is sort of annoying because people want to hear what Simon has to say and now he can only speak for half of the contestants. Well, since there were 7, his group got to speak for 4 of the 7 but still. Maybe the producers should have thought better about adding a 4th judge or maybe eliminate some of the crap in the beginning of the show. Do we really need the judges to be introduced each week? If you don't know their names by now, you have a serious learning disability. Last night's singing didn't get underway until the 7 minute mark. Anyway, let's see how the night played out.

Kicking off movie night was Allison Irritating. With her pig-nose glistening under the lights, she sang Aerosmith's "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" from the movie "Armageddon." Personally, I wanted to miss everything. It was horrendous. Yes, you know I don't like this girl but she was so out of tune at parts. Parts of the song were yelled. It was pitchy and the chick still gets the judges praise. At least they didn't compare her this week to Kelly Clarkson. With only seven people left, it's time for her to be back in the bottom 3.

Following that nightmare was Anoop doing Bryan Adam's "Everything I Do (I Do It For You" from "Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves." First of all, I can't stand this song and I'm not a huge Bryan Adams fan. But ya know what? Anoop pulled it off. The song was actually better than Bryan's version. Maybe it's Bryan Adam's cheesy scratchy voice that gets to me but Anoop sung this song so well that I almost didn't know the original existed. It was smooth, in tune, and so perfect of a choice for him. Anoop, who could have been on the bubble this week, buys himself another week. I could have been his best performance in this competition.

Then comes front-runner, Adam Lambert, performing Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" from "Easy Rider." I'm glad he didn't do a tripy version of this song to appeal to all the drugged out fans of "Easy Rider." He was actually back in his Adam groove last night in his over the top Axel Roseish singing. I liked when he was doing the verses but I did have some issues with the chorus when he would go into the "Born To Be Wild" part. This guy should replace Constantine Maroulis in Broadway's "Rock Of Ages" when he decides to leave the show. I thought it was Adam's best performance in weeks and erased the memories for me of the last two weeks. Adam has that "Wow" factor that many of the other contestants don't have this season.

Up next is Matt Giraud. His choice was Bryan Adams' "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" from "Don Juan DeMarco." First of all, what's with the Bryan Adams songs? Second, who picks a song from Don Juan DeMarco. I've seen a TON of movies in my life and this move is one I choose never to waste two hours watching. Matt is back at his piano but the song just sucks. He's off pitch and it's just not right for him. He went from being Justin Timberlake a few weeks ago to now being Justin Giraud, an imaginary third cousin of Matt's that wants to be a singer. The bottom three, is where Matt will be. Hey...that rhymes!

Then comes Danny Gokey going with "Endless Love" by Lionel Richie from the movie "Endless Love" if you didn't know that. I understand the song choice as it was all for his wife and he sung the song very well. But I sound like a broken record when I say that there is still not that Wow factor. Simon even said what I've been saying that David Cook would change up the song so much to make it his own like last year when he did Lionel Richie's "Hello" which was amazing. That WOW factor and originality is missing which is why Danny will probably fall short of winning this competition unless he can figure out how to change it up over the next six weeks. I still love this guy as he has a great voice but he needs to step it up a notch.

Following that was Kris Allen doing "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova from the movie "Once." First of all, who the hell sang this song? Second of all, what movie is this? Has anyone ever seen this movie? If you have, I bet you haven't seen it more than once. Anyway, what a boring song and he does it with out his instrument which I thought was a mistake. What I like about Kris is when he's on the guitar singing and when he's not on it, the performance is just missing something for me. I didn't think it was Kris' best and I was a bit disappointed with all the songs out there that this was the song he chose. Kris could be on the bubble but you'll have to wait for my predictions below.

Finally it was time for Lil to disappoint again. She was doing Bette Midler's "The Rose" from the movie of the same name. The song was so night right for Lil. She claimed she wanted to but and R&B feel to the song but I wasn't hearing it. It just seemed like a bad version of a great song. Again, Lil doesn't take Simon's advice and go true R&B. Lil could be in major trouble after that performance. On a positive note, I liked the wig again.

So, who goes home? Adam and Danny are safe. That's obvious. It think Anoop saved his ass too. That leaves four people to claim the bottom three. Locks are Allison and Lil but I'm torn between Kris and Matt as I've liked them both. I'm gonna go with Matt as the other member of the bottom three.

With Lil, Allison and Matt in the bottom, if Matt goes home, they are not going to use the save. However, if Allison or Lil get the lowest vote, I think they will use the save because they like both girls and since each judge didn't get a chance to critique the performance, it's the perfect week to use the save as they are getting close to the Top 5 anyway where it can't be used. So,I'm saying Lil goes home (even though I hope it's Allison) and that makes the big question being if they are going to use the judges save.

Until next week, Birdman Out.

Scott's Ride Ends

2009-04-09T05:42:00.001-07:00

Basically, America is blind to the blind. In the most shocking elimination to date, Scott MacIntyre, has been eliminated from Idol.

Scott was in the bottom three with Lil and Anoop. I guess I can't argue that but Allison and Matt were not good this week either despite the judges gushing.

And Allison could be the worst female contestant to make it to the 7 spot. Maybe the only girls worse who made Top 7 could be Jasmine Trias, Paris Bennett, and LaKisha Jones. Actually, let me add Fantasia with an asterisk since she won Idol but is still one of the worst all-time idols as far as I'm concerned.

So, that leaves us with: Adam, Danny, Matt, Lil, Allison, Anoop, and Kris. Based on recent performances, I'd have to say that next week's bottom three are: Anoop, Lil, and Allison.

Danny and Adam will still probably battle it out for the title unless Matt and Kris can pull off that "WOW" performance. According to the judges, this past week was Adam's "WOW" performance. We are still waiting for the "WOW" from Danny and I hope he has it in him.

So, that's that. Scotty is gone but he'll be okay. I can guarantee the blind factor will get him a record deal and he'll surprise all with a platinum album one day. MacIntyre is gone but he's still in da house !

Until next week...Birdman Out.

Top 8 Perform 80's Tunes

2009-04-08T05:46:00.001-07:00

So, this week is basically songs from the year you were born which is their fancy way of saying "80's Night." There are TONS of songs to pick so let's see how it played out.

Kicking off the show was the oldest contestant, Danny Gokey, singing "Stand By Me" which is an okay song and I'm a bit disappointed that it's a remake for the 80's so that bothered me a bit. He did a good job but still not that "WOW" I'm waiting for. I liked how he started off slow which was different. The middle of the song was a mess as it sounded too 80's and queer for me but he ended with his soulful self to secure my vote.

Following was Kris Allen doing Don Henley's "All She Wants To Do Is Dance." I kept on thinking it was a Robert Palmer song all night but just realized it was Henley. Either way, I can't stand the song. However, he was able to take a song I loathe and actually make it sound nice. I liked the way he performed as he was surrounded in the audience where Matt did the same thing last week and failed. I was shocked that the judges didn't like what he did. I definitely thought he could have done better with a different song but he made this song his own and I had to clap for what he did.

Then there was Lil and I was beyond happy that she wasn't doing a Whitney Houston song. Instead she chose Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It." First of all, this was the first week that I bought into the wig thing. For once, it actually looked natural on her head. As for the outfit, to do a Tina Turner song and wear a mini skirt, you best not have chunky legs. Don't get me wrong, Lil is a pretty girl but she doesn't have the Haley Scarnato legs to pull off Tina Turner. That being said, I thought Lil redeemed herself last night. I thought she was back in her groove doing what she does best. I think it was her best performance in at least 3 weeks. However, the judges again disagreed with me. What the hell is going on. Am I heard things differently through my television than the judges are seeing on stage?

Next up was Anoop doing Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors." First all, great song. Second of all, bad singing. I truly hated it. Not sure what the judges again were listening too as they loved it. I'm not sure what is going on tonight but I must have some M.W.B. - Major Wax Build-up - as I don't agree with much so far.

Then there was Scott. He was singing a Survivor song "The Search Is Over." Pathetically, Survivor is one of my favorite groups. I have about 10 of there CDs and I bet you didn't' even know they had more than 2. Anyway, I thought it was a great song choice but this was a song that should have been sung at the piano. However, I liked it. I thought it was a great song choice for him. I was actually hoping for an Air Supply song but this was just as good. He had a great tone to his voice and I think not only the judges, but America is deaf. Bravo Scotty !

Allison Irritating was next doing Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me". I had a feeling she was either gonna do Raitt or Ethridge as that's basically all she can yell anyway. Again, I hated it. It's a copy cat performance that she tries to sound exactly like the original. She yells and I'm just over it. The only comparison to Kelly Clarkson should be that they are both pigs but in terms of a voice, Kelly has much better pipes than this chick. Kara tells Allison she should go ahead an made a record. Come on Kara, this girl is so overrated and no-one was telling her that she can make a record last week? What a joke. I may even just skip the Allison performance next week as you can read the same comments I wrote this week - Not Good.

After Yell Fest IV, it was Matt Giraud grooving to Stevie Wonder's "Part Time Love." And, after a horrific performance last week, I thought this one was just as bad. The judges were gushing over it as I was cringing. It was such a bad song choice for this guy and just didn't fit his style. Two weeks ago he was in the bottom for his best performance and last week he wasn't in the bottom for his worst performance. I hated it this week. Matt is not himself when he's not at the piano. This was just not my cup of tea.

Finally, it was Adam Lambert time. Hopefully you extended your DVR or you would have missed it. It figures he picks a song from 1982 that I never heard of in Tears for Fears' "Mad World." And again, I hated it. The song was so slow and all sung in the same low voice except for a few brief moments where I thought it was going to change. This song didn't show off his voice and wow me at all. And again, the judges loved it. It reminded me of that Summertime performance that Fantasia sang that the judges loved and I loathed. So, I must be the big A-hole of the night as I think I agreed maybe once or twice. After that performance, I was actually upset at myself for extended the DVR ending time as I would have rather missed it.

Basically, 80's night for me was a disaster. I think the worst three of the night that are in danger of the bottom three are Anoop, Allison, and Matt. And I'm gonna say that Anoop goes home.

Until Next Week...Birdman Out.

Megan Eliminated

2009-04-02T05:30:00.000-07:00

Well, the JOY ride is finally over for Megan. In what was long overdue, her ride has come to a conclusion.

Megan was the pretty girl who just couldn't sing and dance. She survived to the 9 spot based on looks and surely not voice.

In terms of the worst Top 9 Idols of all time, she's right up there with other head-scratchers like Sanjaya, John Stevens, and Jason Castro.

Last night's bottom three turned out to be Megan, Allison, and Anoop.

I guess it's strange that last week, Matt, had one of his best performances and was in the bottom 3 and this week had one of his worst performances and was not in the bottom 3. But, that was good as I like Matt.

My boy Scott also redeemed himself and was absent from the bottom as well.

But, then there's Allison. I keep on telling people that this girl is garbage and is not as good as people say she is. What is annoying is that if she was eliminated, she would have been the judges save. However, this is two times already for Miss Irritating so her time is ticking.

Two out of the bottom three next week, without even hearing them sing, should be: Allison & Anoop. The third person to be in the bottom will be one of the stronger singers that has a bad week. So, Lil, Matt, and Scott best be on their game next week.

Until then, Birdman Out.

The Top 9 Perform iTunes Songs

2009-04-01T06:21:00.000-07:00

So, we are down to the Top 9 who was performing iTunes most popular downloads. And here's how that played out:

First up is Anoop Dawg who has avoided the bottom 3 last week. I'm telling you; it's the year of the Indian with Slumdog Millionaire being the big Oscar Winner, Parminder Nagra having her farewell episode on ER last week, and Ghandi's 1/2 Birthday is April 2nd (I share a birthday with him) is this week so that is all good news for Anoop. Finally, Bobby Jindal recently did the republican response to President Obama's speech to the nation. All of that makes this the Y.O.T.I. - Year Of The Indian. So, despite Anoop's performance, he could still be safe another week. He was singing Usher's "Caught Up" and it was a big ouch. It totally didn't work. It was the totally wrong song choice and didn't really show off his voice despite some the lyrics which I didn't even understand what he was singing. So, will the Anoop Factor play into his favor or will Anoop sail off into the sunset. We shall see.

I'm one of the world's worst dancers. I spent $700 on dance lessons before my wedding which was a waste of money. Despite this, I'm still a much better dancer than Megan Joy. How much longer is the Joy going to be there. The "joy" and laughter will be gone soon after Megan's elimination. She sang Bob Marley/Lauryn Hill’s "Turn Your Lights Down Low." I should have turned the lights off as well as the TV during this mess of a performance. The only reason the television stayed on is that she's pretty to look at but besides that, the stage presence was horrific and the singing was even worse than that. Scratching my cornea with a rusty nail could be less painful that listening to Megan sing. This girl needs to be kicked off already despite my daughter's obsession with "tattoo girl."

Next, it was Gokey time. That's Danny Gokey. What is there bad to say about this guy. I think the dead wife thing helped you remember him in the early auditions but since then, that's been a non issue as Danny as been Mr. Consistent each week. And, if he wins, I'm sure he'll be the next Idol contestant to date Kimberly Caldwell for a few months. Anyway, Danny's song choice was Rascal Flatts’ "What Hurts the Most." Danny did a solid job. He has a unique voice, has fun on the stage, and seems quite polished. It wasn't his best performance but it was very good. What I want from Danny is the "WOW" performance ala what David Cook did with Billie Jean. I know there are 8 weeks left so that "WOW" performance could be coming but I want to see that "WOW" performance now to solidify him as the front-runner.

If I put an Annie wig on Wilbur from Charlotte's Web, what would I have? Answer: A Red-Headed Pig OR Allison Irritating. Thus, Allison was up next to perform No Doubt’s "Don’t Speak" which she did with a guitar. Who even know she knew how to play the guitar. First of all, she was dressed for Halloween. She looked ridiculous in her outfit which all of the judges commented on that totally didn't help her performance. However, where they all think she has this great voice, I just don't get it. I feel she screams instead of sings. I just don't get the obsession with her and for once, the judges didn't love her performance either. It's about time that they are finally thinking that she's not that good and I don't think the guitar helped her. I'd love to see her go home.

Scott MacIntyre's turn was next. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I keep on hearing from ya'll that "Scott Sucks" but trust me, the only thing that sucks about Scott is that he doesn't know when to stop ass wiping after a poop as he can't see when the TP is clean. Besides that, this guy got game. He is singing Billy Joel's "I Love You Just The Way You Are" which is the perfect song choice for him. Plus, they fixed up his hair to make it less poofy. He totally redeemed himself from last week which I liked despite America disliking it. His voice was great and he put himself out of the bottom three for this week. Way to go Scotty!

Then came Matt who needs to have that mole removed from the center of his forehead. Despite the growth, he has a cool look and had no business being in last week's bottom 3. He was singing Fray's "You Found Me" and this was his worst performance which came at the worst time. Since he was in the bottom three last week and was so bad this week, that could mean bad things for Mr. Giraud. He totally got away from who he is. He needs to play something more soulful and this was just the opposite of it. I'm not quite sure what he was thinking. I think he is the perfect candidate for the judges save if he somehow got eliminated but not sure what happened to Matt this week. I'm flabbergasted.

Lil Rounds, not to be confused with Lil Kim, Lil Wayne, Lil Romeo, Lil Jon, Lil Boosie, Lil Mama, Lil Scrappy but this Lil can sing better than any of these other Lils. Lil was in need of a bit week and came out to sing Celine Dion's "I Surrender." Yes, you heard me right. She picked a Celine Dion song. Haven't these contestants learned over the years that you do NOT pick Celine, Mariah, or Whitney as you'll never come up with a version better than the original. What a huge mistake in song choice. Secondly, what is up with her wig every week? Part of what we love about Lil is her short hair which is perfect for her image so not sure why she's wearing this dead squirrel on her head every week. Lil was off key for most of the song until she hit some power notes in the last 30 seconds to maybe help her cause. She's another candidate for the judges save but I'm still waiting for Lil to listen to the judges comments and pick the right song that fits her voice.

Next up is Adam Lambert. My good friend, who has more music knowledge in his testicle than I have in my entire body, claims that Lambert is just like the Rum-Tug-Tugger. I'm not sure what the heck that means but I'm gonna take his word on it. Anyway, Adam was singing Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music" which is not one of my favorite songs. It's up there with "Brick House" that I can't stand. Anyway, he does a good job for Adam but this guy belongs on stage at a hip Broadway show. Could you really listen to 10 tracks of this same thing that he does? Plus, why did they change his hair? The hair doesn't go with the kind of act that he is. He's definitely going far but he's the Rum Tug Tugger for sure, well, I guess.

Finally, there's Kris Allen getting the final spot. He is so much better than last year's favorite pot smoker - Jason Castro who made it all the way to 4th place but with this year's crop of singers much stronger than last year. However, if Kris continues to perform like he did last night, he could easily get much further than where Castro made it which was crazy that he got that far but that's last year's news. Kris was at the piano singing Bill Withers "Ain't No Sunshine" which was a great choice. I still have in my head the Christina Christian version which made it on the Season 1 CD so I'm so used to a chick signing this song that it was great to hear a guy's spin on it even though the original version is from a dude. And this was his WOW performance. It was just that good. Kris hasn't gotten a ton of buzz since we didn't know much about him until the Top 36 but he should be talked about in the same breath as a Danny or Adam.

So, who is the bottom 3? I'm gonna have to say that Anoop and Megan are locks for the bottom 3. Then, it's really between Allison and Matt. I'm gonna say Allison takes that third spot in the bottom 3. I then think the Anoop Factor gets Anoop back to the bleachers and it's between Megan and Allison to go home. And going home tonight on American Idol is....Megan.

Until next week....Birdman Out.

And Then There Was 9

2009-03-27T06:06:00.000-07:00

Well, America got it right in eliminated Michael Sarver. However, they got it all wrong with the Bottom 3.

How is Matt Giraud in the bottom 3? He was the best male vocal of the night. And NO, Adam Lambert was not the best. I hope Matt doesn't get lost in the shuffle as he should be right up there with Danny and Adam.

And what happended to my boy Scott? Yeah, yeah, yeah, a lot of you think he deserves to be there but this will light a fire under him and get him back on course.

How does Megan not even get into the bottom 3? Who's voting for her? What a joke as she is repulsive to listen to.

Not much else.

Catch ya next week.

Birdman Out.

Top 10 Perform Motown

2009-03-26T06:29:00.000-07:00

It was Motown night for the Top 10 which should definitely play into the strengths of the contestants more than it id for Country week last week. So, let's see what happened.

First up is Matt Giraud singing Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" while at the piano. He changes up the song which made it sound much more current while still keeping with melody. Then, he gets up from the piano and take the song up another notch. He was totally in his grove. I have a riddle for you. What do you get when a white horse falls in the mud? Answer: Dark Horse. Yes, Mr. Giraud keeps on getting better and better and has put himself in a position to go deep as his fan base gets stronger each week with each solid performance. I thought it was not only his best performance but it could have been the best performance of anyone this entire season so far.

Following Matt is underdog, Kris Allen. The only reason I say "underdog" is that no one even knew who he was when the Top 36 rolled around. He is also doing a Marvin Gaye song - "How Sweet It Is" and it was actually sweet. He comes out with the guitar and performs a modern version of this Gaye classic (and NO...that's NOT a pun). Every time I hear this song, I think of Chris Klein singing it in the first American Pie and how bad he was. This was the complete opposite. This guy is comfortable with the guitar. Girls dig him. And he has the potential to cause a major upset as we move along in this competition.

Then there is Scott MacIntyre, aka Blind Guy. You had to know he was blind when you saw him wearing PINK pants. Yes, pink pants. I guess no one helped him pick up his wardrobe. Anyway, for the third straight performance of the night, the contestant was with a musical instrument. I was glad that Scott stuck with the Piano despite Paula's stupid comments last week. Scott's song choice was interesting picking the Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love." I almost wish the backup singers weren't part of his performance as it took away from his vocals. That being said, after hearing it, I wish he picked a different song that showed off his voice a bit better. Don't get me wrong, I think he did a great job with the song he chose. I just wish he picked something more manly to show off his voice better. Hey, I'm a fan of this guy. I may be the only one of people I know but you watch, this guy ain't going anywhere so fast. He may be blind, but everyone I know must be deaf (sorry all of you reading who hate this guy.)

Megan was up next. Yeah, I'm just gonna call her Megan. Every week this chick has a new name and I'm over it. So, she's just plain ole Megan now. Her song to botch this week was Stevie Wonder's "For Once In My Life." I remember how good Justin Guarini performed this song in Season 1 and it made me want to barf about how poor this performance was sung in this season. Again, she has a great look but she lacks any voice and dance skills. Watching her do that twisty thing with her arms makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. As for the voice, yes, I know she's compared to Amy Winehouse but I think she sucks as well. If I never heard Amy sing again, I'd be extremely happy. That also applies to Megan. I just think she has one of the most horrific voices I've ever heard. She's a lock for the bottom 3.

Anoop is up next. Now, this is a guy who doesn't need a last name. If he ever made it, he's just be Annop. Anoop chose to sing "Ohh, Baby, Baby" and does a very slow version which should have been called "Ohhh, Boring, Boring..." He has a nice voice but man, I could have skipped the 3 Tylenol PMs and watched this to fall asleep. I like Anoop but I think the Anoop Factor could be ending soon. He's a potential for the bottom 3. It may be time to put them Anoop Dawgs to sleep.

Then there was Michael Sarver going with "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" but he should really beg for America's votes after that performance. Think of all of the other guys in this competition.

Michael is at the bottom in terms of singing, talent, and stage presence. He's just this nice guy who can sing good but not great. I like this guy as a person but based on this guy's last few performances, would you be going onto Ticketmaster to buy tickets at $45 and up for a Sarver concert? But, I don't feel bad for him. He won't be back at his job anytime soon as he has the summer tour that he'll be going on to make some extra coin. Then, he'll be back on his job in the fall.

Lil Rounds was next and I was most excited to hear her sing as this genre was made for her. Her choice was Martha and the Vandellas' "Heat Wave." First of all, I didn't like the wig they put on her. She has short hair and that's the Lil we know. I was a bit disappointed in her singing. When she did that Mary J Blige performance a few weeks ago, that was what I wanted to hear. Last night, I would have liked her to have modernized the song a bit and to be who Lil really is. Lil is one of the best singers but she's been a bit disappointing the last two weeks. But she has nothing to fear. Even if by chance she got eliminated (which I don't believe will happen), she's the perfect candidate for the "judges save."

Adam Lambert is next coming off his creepy Johnny Cash performance last week. This time he looks like he's out of the sequel to "Just One Of The Guys" where a girl dresses up with a guy. The look alone with his hair slicked and combed over to the side and his suit creeped me out a bit. It's so not who Adam is. He went with an acoustic version of Smokey's "The Tracks Of My Tears." While I was not liking it, deep down, I knew that the judges were gonna love it. It was almost like when Fantasia sung "Summertime" and it was that slow crazy version that I loathed but the judges loved. This was his Fantasia and it didn't work again for me. I wanted to hear him be himself, not someone who he isn't. Do we really need to hear a song all sun in falsetto when that's really not showcasing how good of a voice he really has. Adam is the perfect candidate to not go as far as he should based on the last two weeks. He could totally peak at #4.

Following Lambert is Danny Gokey going with the Temptations "Get Ready." It was definitely not Danny's best performance, it was still extremely good. He has a unique voice and good stage presence. I loved the part of the song when he went back to sing and dance with the backup singers only to then come to the front of the stage to finish up the song. I think Danny need to do something that David Cook would do last year by changing it up each week. There were a few performances by Cook last year like "Billy Jean" that would just blow you away. And Blake Lewis did the same thing doing his version of Bon Jovi the year before. Gokey needs a performance like that for us to remember the entire season. I know he has it in him but I just want to see that performance now.

Shockingly, Allison Irritating gets the final spot of the night with her version of the Temptations' "Papa Was A Rolling Stone." My wife says, "I don't get it, but I know why the judges get it." Personally, I disagree. I don't get it and I don't get that the judges get it. It's just a yell fest out there. It was irritating from the first lyric down to the last. I hope America disagrees with the judges as this chick is horrendous. She has no right being in the Top 10. I don't know who is worse...Allison or Megan.

So, I think the best three of the night were Matt, Kris, and Danny.

As for the bottom three, it should be Michael, Megan, and Anoop but I'd love for the Anoop Factor to still be in effect and maybe it would be Allison. We could even get a shocker with Lil in the bottom 3 but I hope not. Going home is probably Michael Sarver.

Until next week...Birdman Out.

Alexis Gets The Boot

2009-03-19T06:03:00.000-07:00

So, the Bottom 3 were Allison Irritating, Michael Sarver, and Alexis Grace. I was not happy that Megan wasn't in the Bottom 3 but her time will come. Alexis was sent home a bit premature as she is much better of a singer than Allison, Michael, and Megan. But, what can ya do. We finally have at Top 10.

On March 11th, before the Top 13 began, I went with the following as my top 5 while declaring Gokey the winner.
1. Danny Gokey
2. Lil Rounds
3. Adam Lambert
4. Scott MacIntyre
5. Matt Giraud

Based on this past week's performance, I'm going to keep my Top 5 the same but tweak the order a bit. I think Adam and Lil took a slight step backwards and Matt is picking up steam. So, I'm going to slightly change the order of the Top 5 to:
1. Danny Gokey
2. Matt Giraud
3. Scott MacIntyre
4. Adam Lambert
5. Lil Rounds

I know...you must think I'm crazy having Blind Guy up so high. This guy is really go far especially now that country week is out of the way.

So, I went back to see my original thoughts of these 5 individuals based on their early auditions to see what I wrote:

Danny Gokey - Posted January 15, 2009 (Kansas City Auditions):
However, his best friend, Danny Gokey, stole the show. Right when they said he had lost his wife four weeks ago, I was praying that this guy could sing. Right when he belted "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", that was it. He was the best person we've heard so far this season. I'm not calling him the winner yet; but this guy, if he can hold his emotions together could easily make the TOP 5 if not win it all. Yup...he's really that good. Plus, he got the sympathy vote as well.

Matt Giraud - Posted January 22, 2009 (Louisville Auditions):
After a montage of some pathetic souls, out came Matt Giraud, the dueling piano player. Supposedly, he taught himself how to play piano four years ago with out a lesson. This guy was one of my favorites for all the audition episodes so far. If he improves his personality, he could go deep. I'm looking forward to see what he can really do while singing with a piano. But, this guy could be a dark horse this season. Then, back on February 12th I wrote "Matt Giraud (he's my dark horse and could get better each week) - WILD CARD COMPETITOR."

Adam Lambert - Posted January 21, 2009 (San Francisco Auditions):
Then came Adam Lambert who had a David Cookish kind of look to him. He also looked a bit like Jerry O'Connell dressed as Fall Out Boy. This guy had personality so you knew he was going to have decent pipes. He chose to sing "Bohemian Rhapsody" and did a great job. Yeah, I agree with Simon that it was a bit Broadway but I liked it. They'll fix him up a bit and little girls will love him. I think he is a lock to make the Top 5 and could even go further depending on how he chooses to portray himself - a rock star or a Broadway star.

Scott MacEntyre - Posted January 14, 2009 (Phoenix Auditions):
Finally, Phoenix ended with Scott MacEntyre, aka The Blind Guy. Ray Charles is dead. Stevie Wonder can't sing well anymore. I can't stand Andrea Bochelli. So, I'm ready for the new breed in B.M.T. - Blind Musical Talent. Scott sings Billy Joel's "And So It Goes" and nailed it. And, this guy is also a piano man so once he gets to Hollywood and sits behind a piano, he'll sound even better as that is where he feels most comfortable. I'm totally rooting for this guy and I think he can make it DEEP into the Top 10 for sure.

Lil' Rounds - Posted January 15, 2009 (Kansas City Auditions):
Finally, the show ended with Lil Rounds. She has an interesting name but a great voice. Randy compared her to Fantasia but this girl is a combination of Tamayra, Latoya, Vonzell and Jordan (Sparks). Look for Idol to fix up her image and glide into the Top 12. She could wind up being the strongest female in the competition.

Huh...I'm actually pretty impressed with my comments. I'm gonna go buy a lottery ticket so Birdman Out.

Top 11 Perform: Country Week

2009-03-18T05:38:00.000-07:00

Every year the producers of American Idol force us to suffer through country week. And this year, they made it worse by limiting the country music to those inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. First of all, I don't even like saying "Grand Ole Opry." Second, who cares? Third, I hate country music. As an old Jewish aunt would say, "Oye Vey."

Randy Travis, or Travis Trit, one of those clowns, was this weeks' mentor. He's a bit creepy looking huh? He's definitely a bit of an inbred right? Maybe not brothers and sisters mating but surely first cousins.

First up was Michael Sarver singing Garth Brooks' "Ain't Goin' Down (Til The Sun Comes Up)." The song has a tong of lyrics, it's fast paced and Michael was singing it as if he had marbles in his mouth. I agreed with Simon that I couldn't understand half of the words. He seems out of breath at points of the song, had zero stage presence, and if just felt like he was going thru the motions of getting the performance over with. What bothered me was that country music should put him in his element and I think he blew it since he was really the only country singer in the top 11. He's a candidate for the bottom 3.

Next at bat was Allison Irritating. She was performing Patty Loveless' "Blame It On Your Heart." Allison yelled most of the song as far as I'm concerned. There have been other female rockers in the past like Ryan Starr and Kimberly Caldwell that were much better than Allison and I didn't love Ryan or Kimberly either. Allison looks lost on stage. She can't dance or move around...she's just a red headed pig on stage that yells into the mic. She belongs singing in her basement where no one else has to listen to it as far as I'm concerned. I know most of you won't agree with me on here but I can't stand it. I'd take Amanda Overmeyer over Allison Irritating any day. Well, maybe not but it's a close call. I'm hoping she'll be in the bottom 3...PLEASE !

Then, Kris Allen hit the stage with Garth Brooks' "To Make You Feel My Love" and he did a solid performance. I was actually disappointed that he didn't bring out the guitar especially with it being country week. I thought the song was beyond boring but his voice was perfect. It actually worked in his favor to go guitarless to show off his voice. Kris was an unknown in the top 36 but he's finally getting his respect. (Note: I could have said "props" but I loathe that word.)

Lil Rounds was ready to go. In the past, it's always been tough for the R&B performer to thrive in country week. And, it happened again. How many black country stars can you name? Okay...I'm waiting. Just give me one name? Anything? I thought so. There are NONE. So, she really had to pick a song that was going to not sound too country but still show off her voice. She chose Martina McBride's "Independence Day." The song started off a bit rocky but once it picked up, you were able to hear that she has some great pipes. I thought Randy's comments were ridiculous saying that she could have sung "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton but if she had done that, it would have then become a Whitney Houston version and you just don't touch Whitney in this competition as you'll never sound better than her. It was definitely not Lil's week but let's hope that next week the theme better fits who she is.

One of the more interesting persons in this competition was next in Adam Lambert doing a Middle Eastern version of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire." First of all, once I heard he was doing something that sounded Egyptian with a sitar sound, I was worried. Then, to do a Johnny Cash song? Johnny Cash songs aren't really sung, they are spoken-sung slowly in a deep voice. Right off the bat, it was the wrong song choice. After one verse in, I was ready to slit my wrists. It was one of the most horrific performances in Idol History. It was up there with Sanjaya's "You Really Got Me" as painfully bad. I'd rather have diarrhea than ever have to sit through this performance again. I'm not sure what he was thinking. What he has in his favor is that people will remember the performance even though it was bad. Again, Adam can sing but everything is so over the top. I'm starting to think that he'll fall before the finals, maybe in that infamous 4 slot where we've lost Daughtry. If I hear anything like that again, he'll lose my votes.

One of my favorites was up next in blind guy - Scott MacIntyre. He picked an interesting song - Martina McBride's "Wild Angels" which is a chick song. What I liked is that when he performed, he made it not sound like a country song, sort of what Kris Allen did. It started off a bit shaky but mid-way through the song, Scott was back in his groove. It was not his best performance but then again, it wasn't many people's best performances on country night. What was bizarre was that Paula told him that she'd like to see him for once not with the piano. Huh? Paula, what would you like him to do? Dance around on the stage? The dude is blind. It seems like he's gonna listen to Simon and continue to sit at the piano until the time is right to do a song sans piano.

Alexis Grace was next to hit the stage. Her choice was Dolly Parton's "Jolene" which was beyond annoying when Brooke White sang that same song last year. The song has so little verse and it's just basically singing "Jolene, Jolene, Jolene" a zillion times. Plus, it was so slow and boring. For anyone who has trouble falling asleep, get rid of the Ambien and play this performance. Yes, I can't argue that Alexis has a nice voice but the performance was just off. I could smell bottom 3 for Ms Grace.

Projected winner, Danny Gokey, was up next doing a Carrie Underwood song - "Jesus, Take The Wheel." First of all, if you could pull it off, it's a smart song choice if a dude can pull off a chick song. Secondly, no one would EVER not vote for you singing a song about Jesus. Simon said it was a bit boring in the beginning and then he picked it up about midway through the song. I like when people do that if they do it right. Clay Aiken would always do that - start out slow and then midway - it was all energy and power. I thought Gokey did the same last night and it stood out as one of the better performances of the night. Again, it was still not his best. Plus, that white coat? Simon already based the coat so I guess there's not much more to say about it.

Anoop Dawg was up next. Will he have the Anoop Factor (A.F.) in his favor? He was singing Willie Nelson's "You Were Always On My Mind" and Anoop was back in his groove. His eyebrows were a bit thinner so someone must have pluked then down a bit. His voice was back. He sung a song that showed off his voice as opposed to the last two weeks that were very keroeke. Anoop will never win American Idol but he'll still ride that Slumdog Millionaire wave for a few more weeks until the bad singers are gone and then he can find himself in a bit of trouble. Anoop survives another week.

Oh, and then there was Megan Corkrey. Okay, I'm not sure where to begin. He face looked great; however, her outfit was unappealing. First of all, wear a bra. Secondly, that kind of dress doesn't look good when your entire arm is tattooed. She needs to wear long sleeves. We all know about her lack of dance moves. But the voice is horrific. She's a lounge singer at best and I don't understand how she's on the verge of the Top 10 and the judges just love this girl. Look at some of the bad singers that have made the Top 12 in the past - Melissa McGhee, Lisa Tucker, Ramiele Mulubay, Stefanie Edwards, Gina Glocksen, Jessica Sierra, Lindsey Cardinale, Julia Demato, Vanessa Oliverez, Amy Adams, Camielle Velasco, and Leah Labelle. I think Megan Corkrey is worse than all of them. Hell, I think there are some people in the early auditions that were better than this girl. I just don't get it. I'm actually repulsed by her voice or lack thereof. Plus, did she drop her last name again? I think she's Megan Joy. Once week she's Megan Joy Corkrey. Once week She's Megan Corkrey. Now she's Megan Joy. I guess that means next week she'll be Joy Corkrey. And I'll be in JOY if she's booted this week.

Finally, Matt Giraud had the chance to end the show which was a good sign. He was singing Carrie Underwood's "So Small" which, like Danny Gokey, was a dude singing an Underwood song. But, man, he pulled it off. He looks so comfortable at the piano and has such a soulful voice. I loved that it didn't sound a bit like a country song. I had Matt Giraud going to the Top 5 overall but if Lambert and Rounds continues to fall, he can make it even further. Again, he's a dark horse that is getting less dark with each solid performance.

So, what happens tonight. If I had to pick the three worst, I can't, so I'm gonna pick the 4 worst - Michael Sarver, Allison Irritating, Megan Joy, and Alexis Grace. Of this group, Alexis is the best singer so I'm gonna then go with Michael, Allison,and Megan for the bottom 3. I'd love it to be one of the girls. I think Michael has a stronger fan base which showed at the first group in the Top 36 so he could pull the upset sending Megan Joy home.

Well, that's it. Catch ya next week. Same Bird Time. Same Bird Channel. Birdman Out.

And Then There Were 11

2009-03-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

Idol started out with Ryan giving us the new rule - the judges save. They show us pictures of Tamyra Gray, Michael Johns, Jennifer Hudson and Chris Daughtry and Ryan asks us what they have in common. The answer was that they were prematurely let go from the show. So, to prevent something like this from happening, there is a one time save rule where the judges can save one person with the judges decision being unanimous. Also, the save can only be made up until the Top 5. First of all, Michael Johns dismissal wasn't really a shocker. And Tamyra Gray and Chris Daughtry were eliminated in the #4 spot so they couldn't even have been saved anyway. I guess that was a BIG flub by the people who put this rule together. They should have showed a picture of Constantine Maroulis who was beat by Scott Savol and Anthony Federov. That night, Constantine could have gotten the save. Then, last year, instead of Michael Johns, they could have shown Carly Smithson who lost out to Jason Castro, Brooke White, and Syesha Mercado. That would be another good spot to make the save.

Yesterday I had predicted:
So, let's see who's the bottom three. I would have to go with Jasmine Murray, Megan Corkrey, and Jorge Nunez. And if they do a bottom 4, I'm gonna add Allison Iraheta to the mix. I'm passing on Anoop as I think he has a fan base and the Anoop factor will come into play. So, going home will be Megan Corkrey and Jorge Nunez.

So, I had three of four knowing Allison Irritating was a reach. With Jasmine and Megan there, I really wanted Megan to go home but deep down, I knew it was going to be Jasmine for some reason. Megan is so annoying so I'm not sure how she squeaked by Jasmine but Megan time will come over the next week or so. Then, it was down to Annop and Jorge and the Anoop Factor came into play as Jorge got the boot.

Before the eliminations, I watched the performances again with my daughter as I promised she could see it. Here's her thoughts as I got to each singer:

1.) Lil - "I don't like her." (I had to fast forward thru her performance)
2.) Scott - "He's good...I like him." (She watched his full performance)
3.) Danny - She didn't say anything. (But she watched his full performance)
4.) Michael - "I don't like him." (I had to fast forward through him)
5.) Jasmine - "I like her." (We watched her full performance and then she wanted to watch it a 2nd time)
6.) Kris - "I don't like him too." (He got the fast forward treatment as well)
7.) Allison - "I like her hair. I don't like her." (So, luckily, I got to skip her performance)
8.) Anoop - "I don't like his face." (He got fast forwarded too)
9.) Jorge - "No...skip him." (Again, it was in fast forward mode)
10.) Megan - "Look...she has tatoos...grandma doesn't like tattoos" (I got stuck watching her two times)
11.) Adam - "He's nuts" (We watched him just once)
12.) Matt - "I like him" (We watched his full performance too)
13.) Alexis - "Her hair has pink in it" (We watched her full performance as well)

So, based on her watching full performances, her favorites were Scott, Danny, Jasmine, Megan, Adam, Matt, and Alexis. Unfortunately, I had to break the news to her this morning that Jasmine was sent home.

So, that's the scoop. Oh wait. Why is Kanye West famous? He really has ZERO talent. Or maybe I just don't get it.

Until next week, Birdman Out.

Top 13 Perform

2009-03-11T06:35:00.000-07:00

It was what American Idol has wanted for eight seasons - Michael Jackson night. For years, the judges have said NOT to sing a Michael Jackson song but this time, they had no choice.
I had done terrible in my predicting of songs the idols would sing as I didn't get anyone's song correct and guessed only 5 of the 13 songs that were even sung. So, I guess that was a pathetic start to my predictions but let's see how the night played out.

First of all, Paula was back to her drugged out self last night. Her head was crooked all night long and she was making little to no sense. I guess that's what makes the show so good so I hope she continues to take whatever she took last night as it made her comments that much less meaningful but that much more enjoyable.

They had announced that since we had a Top 13, there would be two people going home on the first night so that gets them back on track for a 3rd week of May finale. But, they had also announced that there would be a new twist on how the season would play out that American may not like. So, this is probably where other shows have gone or are going to avoid what happened last year - Sanjaya. In order to counter the "vote for the worst" or just have the bad singer advance, I'm saying that America will pick the bottom 3 (or maybe 4) and then the judges will either have them have a sing-off or just vote amongst themselves to eliminate someone from the competition. I'm just guessing that is what the rule change is as that is what they do on Britan's "X-Factor" show.

I had a few questions entering the evening. Would anyone attempt to do "Billie Jean" which David Cook did so perfectly last year? What over the top performance would we see from Adam Lambert? Who would just destroy a Michael song? So, let's see what happened:

First to kick off the true competition was Lil Rounds. Let me refresh your memory. She's not that old and already has three kids. I guess she didn't want the father to put those "lil rounds" over his "lil thing" to prevent the triple pregnancies. Lil's choice is "The Way You Make Me Feel" and for the first song, she does a solid job. I agree with Simon that her outfit was not the best and if you have a butt that could balance champagne glasses on it, white pants aren't the way to go. But, I like Lil. The issues is that she's totally just like Tamayra, Latoya, and Vonzell - the great R&B / soul voice that got eliminated prematurely. Lil has potential to get to the finals and should easily sail at least halfway through the competition before she's in any jeopardy. For this song, I wish she went a bit sexier as portrayed in the video but good start to the show.

Next up has been one of my favorites from the early auditions. Ladies and Gentleman, it's Scott MacIntyre - aka the next blind music star. Scott's choice to sing was "Keep The Faith" which is not one of Michael's more famous songs but I liked what he did with it. He was back in his comfort zone in front of the piano and he hit some great notes to make up for a few not so great notes but all in all, it was an enjoyable performance. He took a song that most people wouldn't know and updated it to the point where you wouldn't even know it was a MJ song. Paula adds that "Keep The Faith" was a hit in Norway; but this isn't Norway Idol...is it? Scott should sail through this round and go deep in the competition. I closed my eyes for a while to not have the B.F. - Blind Factor - affect my judging and this guy has potential to go far and should improve each week as he gets more comfortable and grows.

Following blind guy, is my early pick from a while ago to win it all - Mr. Daniel Gokey. To refresh your memory, he's the one with the dead wife who must be smiling in her grave if she's able to see what Danny does on stage. When I first heard that he was going to sing "PYT", the first word I thought was, "interesting". But Danny has this unique, raspy voice and feels so comfortable on the stage that he pulled it off. I like too that Danny is wearing a new pair of glasses each week. I think I'll have to have my company send him over a cool pair of Oscar de la Renta frames to wear when he's performing in the finals. This guy is a lock to make it to the Top 4 and had the potential to win it all but you never know. Look what happened to Daughtry who fell a few weeks short of winning but has maintained a solid career. And yes, I agree with the judges that the dancing wasn't the best. But Clay Aiken was a horrific dancer and made it to the finals so dancing isn't the tell all tale.

Then Michael Sarver , "roughneck" is up next. Michael is going to struggle in this competition as he's a bit stiff on stage and doesn't have the same stage presence as others. He has a nice voice but nice doesn't just sell records. He's a likeable guy and you want him to do good to help support his family but I just don't see that happening. I wouldn't mind him staying around a few weeks though. He sings "You Are Not Alone" and it's okay. It didn't make you say "Wow" or anything but since I like this guy, I don't want to bash him at this present time.

Jasmine Murray was up next. She has a good look to her and could appeal to the tween market if she was more consistent. She picks "I'll Be There" which I thought was a great choice for her but the pitch issues sort of hurt her performance. I think she probably should have waited a few years until her voice was more toned and mature before entering this competition as she's going to be vying for the same votes as Lil Rounds and we know who'll garner those votes between the two of them. Yes, she'll be there but "there" could be the bottom 3.

Performing next was Kris Allen who we didn't know much about until the Top 36 so his lack of screen time may hurt him. But, he has a good look that 16 year old girls would be attracted to. Plus, he comes out with the guitar. What girl doesn't like a musician playing a guitar. Even the ugly guys who make it in the business can get pretty girls as long as they can sing will and play the guitar. Even Murray from the Wiggles is supposedly a stud back in Australia. Anyway, Kris comes out with the guitar to play "Remember The Time" which is one of the worst MJ videos based in Egypt. Kris is such the underdog as people already had their favorites before even hearing Kris perform but he did a good job with this song and the guitar thing definitely enhanced his performance. I agree with Simon that he shouldn't have brought up the wife thing yet so early in the competition as some of the young girls that are attracted to him may not like that he's taken already. Kris could have the fate of Chris Richardson as they have a similar look but this Kris is much better than that Chris. I hope we get to hear this guy for a few more weeks and I think he should be easily safe for the night.

Allison Irh-tating was up next. She's the youngest contestant this season and one of the most annoying. I compare her to Amanda Overmeyer but maybe a bit better of a singer. She picks a song called "Give In To Me." Now, when I tried to predict who was going to sing what, I browsed all of Michael Jackson's three hundredish songs and if I was going to keep on guessing songs that she was going to sing, it may have taken me 290 guesses before landing on this song. First of all, it was a terrible song choice and she needed to pick a song that we have at least heard of and if it was a song we didn't know, at least make it a memorable performance. I just didn't like it. The judges are high on her for some reason but I just don't get it. Her voice annoys me. Her personality annoys me. Her pig nose annoys me. You may think I'm crazy but I think she could be in jeopardy tonight.

Anoop "Dawg" Desai was next to perform. He's so dorky looking but he's fun. He picks an interesting song - "Beat It" which you so relate to the video on so it's hard seeing anyone sing this song other than Michael Jackson. Anoop has a nice voice and he's fun on stage. He's not the best singer but he's far from the worst and what I like is that his performances entertain me. Most people may think he's a candidate to get eliminated tonight but you have to watch out for the A.D.F. - Anoop Dawg Factor. This guy has a fan base and even though he may not have been the best last night, I really think he's not going to get eliminated. And, I could be so wrong but I think he's gonna stay around a few weeks. Plus, everyone is high on Slumdog Millionaire winning the Oscar so that energy is going to keep Anoop afloat a bit longer.

Then we have Jorge Nunez, the happy Puerto Rican. Jorge chooses "Never Can Say Good-bye" which was a bit Keroeke for me. You have to love his personality and he does have a good voice. I'm not sure what is going to happen with Jorge. I almost felt that the camera angles when they gave Jorge a close-up were cheesy, almost as if he were singing on Telemundo or some Latino soap. When I didn't look, I liked his singing a bit better but Jorge could be in jeopardy tonight and that's NOT the Alex Trebeck version.

Next up we have Megan Corkrey, the pretty girl with the Carly Smithson tattooed arm. Why she did that to her arm, we'll never know but it sort of doesn't go with her look. She doesn't seem like the kind of girl to tattoo half her body. Her song choice was "Rockin Robin" and the way she moved her arms during her performance, she rocked Robin to death. In the words of Michael Jackson, this was "Bad." Like really bad. I never was a Megan fan and her performances each week got even worse. The good thing is that she misses her child so she'll soon be reunited with him. Her only hope is the horney 16 year old who is attracted to her to get her votes. But, if American doesn't have final say, she could be the odd person out.

Finally, it was Adam Lambert time. He looks so girlie with Fall Out Boy hair and bad skin on his left cheek. But, he knows how to perform. Yes, it's very theatrical and Broadwish but it's entertaining and you want to see what happens next. Adam chooses "Black or White" and rocked it. He's right up there as one of the best and it's so obvious that he has a stage presence that no other contestant has. Adam is the perfect example of what Michael Sarver doesn't have. The performance was amazing and his vocals are crazy. The one issue I have is this. I can easily see me giving him a standing ovation after a Broadway show or after any live performance but would you be able to listen to 9 to 12 songs on a CD of this in a row? Don't get me wrong; Adam is going deep. I'm just not sure if he's the lock to win this whole thing.

Another one of my early favorites was up next - Matt Giraud. It sucks for him that he had to follow Adam but was confidant that the dueling piano player would have no probably as he would be back in front of the piano where he belongs. His choice of song was "Human Nature" and it was great. He really does look a bit like Timberlake as he sang. Matt should get better each week as he gains more confidence in the judges remarks. Matt need to believe in himself and he'll go far.

Finally, Alexis Grace was to end the show which I would not have predicted. She comes across as a cute girl but I hate the pink in her hair. They need to get rid of the pink and just keep her hair blonde. She sings "Dirty Diana" and does it with soul. She's not Christina Aguilara but she's Aguilara-ish. It wasn't her best performance as I think she did better in the round of 36 but it was enough to keep her in the competition. The judges had to rush their comments based on time even though the broadcast still went over the 2 hour mark but I think I liked it a bit more than the judges did. What was weird was that Alexis' phone number ended in 36 instead of 13. If you dialed 13 last night, you would have gotten a sex line. How smart was that company to set up a phone number that matched Idol's that ended in 13. I'm sure they had a ton of callers last night.

So, let's see who's the bottom three. I would have to go with Jasmine Murray, Megan Corkrey, and Jorge Nunez. And if they do a bottom 4, I'm gonna add Allison Iraheta to the mix. I'm passing on Anoop as I think he has a fan base and the Anoop factor will come into play. So, going home will be Megan Corkrey and Jorge Nunez.

So, who Win's American Idol this year? Here's my top 5 followed by my predictions:
1. Danny Gokey
2. Adam Lambert
3. Lil Rounds
4. Scott MacIntyre
5. Matt Giraud

But, that's a while away so let's see what happens. Until then, Birdman Out.

Predicting Michael Jackson Night

2009-03-10T05:59:00.000-07:00

A big night of Idol is tonight...the Top 13 perform for the first time and the theme is Michael Jackson night. This could turn out to be really good or really bad and it will all come down to song choice.

A few years ago on Billy Joel night, I attempted to see if I could pick the songs the Idols would sing beforehand. I got the first two correct and got the rest all wrong. So, I figure I'd try again for Michael.

So, here are my predictions. I'm sure I got ZERO right but as long as NO ONE sings "Billy Jean", I'll be happy, as that song belonged to David Cook last year.

THE GALS:
Lil Rounds - "I'll Be There"
Megan Corkrey - "Got To Be There"
Allison Ireheta - "I Want You Back"
Jasmine Murray: "Never Can Say Good-Bye"
Alexis Grace: "Rockin Robin"

THE GUYS:
Adam Lambert - "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough"
Danny Gokey - "Beat It"
Scott MacIntyre - "She's Out Of My Life"
Matt Giraud "Man In The Mirror"
Kris Allen "Farewell My Summer Love"
Anoop Desai - "Dancing Machine"
Jorge Nunez - "The Way You Make Me Feel"
Michael Sarver - "Thriller"

Your Top 12, I Mean 13 !

2009-03-06T07:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, it is finally Wild Card night. Which of the 8 remaining contestants will make it? Let’s see how it played out last night.

First up is Jesse Langseth who tried to redeem herself with Stevie Wonder’s “Tell Me Something Good” and it was as she just told us something average. Kara must have been on crack comparing Jesse to Sasha Fierce. There is only room for one Jesse in the music world and that belongs to Jesee’s girl.

One of my favorite contestants was up next in the form of Matt Giraud. He put last week’s disaster in the past and went back to being more bluesy doing “Who’s Loving You” by the Jackson 5. And, wow, he nailed it. He had soul. He had stage presence. He had confidence. I believed he was going to be a lock unless the judges were going to try and better balance the Top 12 by only choosing girls in the wild card round.

Megan Joy Corkrey was up next. I was hoping she wasn’t going to do that ridiculous dance with her arms as she sang. My dreams did not come true. I don’t get this girl. I don’t particularly like her voice. Here dancing is atrocious but she has a pretty look going in her favor. She sang KT Tunstall’s “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” and I didn’t even think she did a good job at all. It was quite off pitch and not my cup of coffee (well, it should be tea but I’m a coffee drinker).

Von Smith was next to take the stage. He’s singing Elton John’s “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word.” Von bores me. He’s so not Clay; he’s more putty. I can’t stand looking at his mouth when he sings. He opens is mouth so wide like he’s gonna take a huge bit out of a veal parm hero and belts these loud, obnoxious notes. Again, Von is Gone !

Next up is another early favorite, Jasmine Murray. She was great early on but her last song just stank like a bad stool sample. She chooses a tough song, “Reflection” by Christina Aguilara but this was too demanding of a song for Jasmine. I believe Jordan Sparks maybe could have pulled this song off but not Jasmine. Jasmine sounded more like Christina Ricci than Christina Aguilara. Just like Megan, the jury was out as to what the judges were going to do with one of their favorite wild cards.

Then, it was Ricky Braddy’s turn. He was the guy no one knew from Group #1 who should have advanced over Michael Sarver but didn’t. Now it was his chance to shine doing Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.” I thought Ricky rocked it. He had a great, original voice, and could have probably advanced earlier if he had gotten more screen time. The judges were mixed on his performance so he was on the bubble at this point.

Not it was time, yes, it’s Tatiana Del Toro time. They made us wait almost until the end of purpose to see this train wreck of a girl sing and cry. And, for the 3rd time, she chooses Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love For You.” First of all, you should NEVER touch a Whitney Houston (or Celine Dion) song. Then, you need to show the judges that you can sing different types of songs as there are themes each week so the fact that she chose a song for the 3rd time was great as I knew that was going to piss someone off. Out of the hour show, she probably had at least 10 to 12 of the minutes talking, crying, and singing. Her singing was okay. I’ve heard worse but it was by no means worthy of going any further. This is the final stop on the T.T. – Tatiana Train. Choo-Choo!

Tatiana Del Toro has found love in singing and the world. She is ready to sing Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love for You.” Again. Not the best way to prove one’s worth. Anyway, it’s just as good as the first time. Still, I wouldn’t have picked the same song, especially when the performance wasn’t quite good enough the first time.

Before Paula can say anything, Tatiana thanks the judges for this second chance. Paula heard an accent she never heard before. Tatiana rambles something about Jorge. Be quiet for once, Tatiana. Anyway, Paula’s not a huge fan of repeaters. She says Tatiana started shaky, but she can still sing. Simon heard her sing that song three times now. When Tatiana makes an excuse about the repeat, Simon calls it “rubbish.” Tatiana keeps yapping about whatever. This is only an hour long, Tatiana. Shut up already!

Randy also believes Tatiana started rough, and the rest of the vocal was a mixed bag. Kara calls this “The Adventures of Tatiana,” as she showed another new personality, not crying and holding her heart this time. Once Ryan comes back out, there is something with Tatiana dropping to the floor. I just don’t get it anymore. Can we move on?

Finally, it’s time for Anoop Dawg. I was a bit disappointed that he sung Bobby Brown’s “My Perogative” for the second time but since I like Anoop, I’ll let it pass. I actually wished he would have chosen a slower song to show another side of him but he did a good job. I actually didn’t think it was his best performance but I still liked the guy.

Going into the night, I wanted Ricky Braddy, Anoop, and Matt Giraud to advance but I knew they were going to at least choose one girl who I believed would be Megan. I also have said that I thought we were going to have a Top 13 this year…yup who’s the Mack Daddy for calling that one (thank you…hold the applause.) My biggest fear was balancing out the sexes with it being 6 guys and 3 girls so far.

The judges first pick Jasmine Murray. Not sure why except for the fact that she’s female. She hasn’t been that good. Now I was upset as that meant that at least one of my three male picks was a goner; someone was going to get screwed. They next announce Megan as the next to make it. Okay, it looks like they are trying to balance out males to females as she didn’t deserve it either but you knew she was going to make it. Then, they bring out Anoop and Matt for the final spot. I turn to my wife and go, “Both are going to make it” and that’s what happened. Ricky got totally screwed but they did the right thing picking both. So, it’s still imbalanced with 8 guys and 5 girls but it will be more imbalanced next week when Jasmine goes home first.

So, that’s it…we have finally a Top 13. Now let’s get rid of at least 6 of them before the true competition begins.

Until next week…Birdman Out.

3 More Advance...Wild Cards Announced...

2009-03-05T05:46:00.000-08:00

So, we now have 9 out of 12 picked already. Last night Lil Rounds, Scott MacIntyre, and Jorge Nunez advanced.

Now, let's look back to see how my predictions panned out.

Back On February 12th, before the Top 36 even sang, I predicted that this would be the top 12:
1. Danny Gokey - CORRECT
2. Scott MacIntyre - CORRECT
3. Lil Rounds - CORRECT
4. Adam Lambert - CORRECT
5. Anne Maria Boscovich - WRONG
6. Michael Sarver - CORRECT
7. Matt Giraud (he's my dark horse and could get better each week) - WILD CARD COMPETITOR
8. Alexis Grace - CORRECT
9. Anoop Desai - WILD CARD COMPETITOR
10. Kristen McNamara - WRONG
11. Brent Keith - WRONG
12. Jackie Tohn - WRONG
(Note: I don't fee as confident with the girls picks as I do with the guys picks)
The Early Pick For The Finals: Gokey vs MacIntyre

So, 6 of the 12 are correct and I have a shot to get two more so not terrible before hearing them sing.

Now, let's see how I did right after each group sang.

After Group 1 sang, I picked Gokey and Alexis Grace. For the third person, I said it was a tossup between Sarver, Anoop, and Rickey Braddy. Sarver made it and now Anoop and Braddy both have a chance to make it via the Wild Card so that's P.D.G. - Pretty Damn Good.

After Group 2 sang, I picked Lambert, Kris Allen, and Allison Iraheta and all three made it. That's what you call 100%.

After Group 3 sang, I picked MacIntyre, Lil Rounds, and Jorge Nunez. Another A+ for the Birdman.

The funny thing is that most of my friends tell me that my taste in music sucks. But, I guess I have a knack for picking winners and losers, except when it comes to the NFL when I just pick losers. But, that's a whole different story.

Then they were announcing the Wild Card. I was SO upset that my prediction didn't come true that they were going to bring back Jamal Rogers and the Osmond boy. Okay, so, I f**ked up with calling that one...sue me.

Then, we find out that they are only picking 8 people to compete for the Wild Cards as opposed to the 12 that they had made us believe. The wild card contestants are:
- Von Smith - Compared to Clay Aiken's voice but I don't think it's even close.
- Jasmine Murray - If she sings like she did last week, she doesn't have a chance.
- Ricky Braddy - He had no screen time but was one of my favorites from Group #1
- Megan Corkrey - She annoys me but the Judges love her.
- Tatiana Del Toro - This was all the producers pick to create tears and more annoying drama.
- Matt Giraud - I love this guy and hope he is better than he was a week ago when he screwed up.
- Jesse Langseth - The jury is still out. She's basically average at best.
- Anoop Desai - Everyone loves Anoop Dawg.

So, going into the Wild Card, each week, it's been 2 guys and 1 girl advancing making it 6 guys to 3 girls. I had originally thought we would have 12 wild cards with each judge picking one person to actually give us a Top 13 but now that there are only 8 singing, picking four would mean that half of them would make it so I don't think that will happen anymore. So, that would mean we need to pick 3 to advance. I'm wondering if they are going to try and even it out, girls to guys by picking 2 girls and 1 guy to make it more balanced but I really think it should be all guys tonight. I would like it to be Anoop, Giraud, and Braddy. However, Braddy could get lost in the shuffle as the judges love this Corkrey chick for some reason. As long as it's not Tatiana, I'll be happy if it's Corkrey over her.

Well...at least tonight it will be set. I'm ready for the Top 12 to begin and to get ready of half of these people. Official predictions come out in 24 hours. Stay tuned.

Until then...Birdman Out.

Group 3 Performs

2009-03-04T05:35:00.000-08:00

Well, half of the Top 12 have been picked. Three more America picks and then the Judges pick the balance but I'm still going with each judge picked a person so I think we are really going to have a Top 13 this year. Anyway, here's how last night played out:

First up is Von Smith. What is up with his knit hat? Come on...it ain't that cold in California right? He sings Marvin Gaye's "You're All I Need To Get By." Actually, America is what you need to get by. I was thinking the same Clay Aiken reference that Simon mentioned but he's not nearly as good as Clay was. Clay was probably even offended by saying Von sounds like Clay. I actually thought this guy did average at best. His mouth when he sings is so painful to watch as he opens and closes his mouth so wide. My jaw almost hurt watching him. I personally, am not a Von fan so I already made my car a bumper sticker - Von Is Gone !

Following Von was Taylor Vaifanua. She didn't stand out much in the auditions so she really had to wow the audience and America to garner some votes. She made the first mistake by choosing Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You" which is way too powerful of a song for Taylor. She was over her head before the first note. Again, it was another average at best performance. Do you remember Julia Demato from one of the earlier seasons? I thought so. That is why you won't remember Taylor Vaifanua in a few years. Hopefully she's sent our her college applications as she's gonna need to figure out a career other than singing if she wants to make any money in life.

Then came Alex Wagner-Trugman. He's the dorky nebbish who has a good voice and who I was hoping could become a better version of Kevin Covias (aka Chicken Little). Alex performs Elton John's "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues." He had a golden opportunity to shine as he has a good voice but he totally botched his performance. I'm not sure what he was doing on the parts of the song when he wasn't singing; he was sort of try to change his voice to be rockish and he failed miserable at it. It was almost like if John Stevens tried to sing Barry Manilow while trying to impersonate Metallica. Trugman ain't a rock star so I'm not sure what he was thinking trying to be one.

Arianna Afsar was next to hit the stage. They keep on saying that she's "cute as a button" but I'm not sure what they are talking about? Are buttons really cute? What about zippers? Do they have any appeal? Yeah, she's cute but not as cute as all the cute talk she gets. Lindsey Cardinale was cute but she didn't go past the 12 slot one year. Arianna would be lucky, extremely lucky, to make it to 12. She signs ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All" which at first I thought was a good choice until she started singing it. It was so boring and slow. The song didn't show off her voice at all. When typing this, I had problems remembering who she was. I knew her name was Arianna but I kept on picturing the chick from 90210 when I heard that name.

Then came Ju'Not Joyner who sings Plain White T's "Hey There, Delilah" and I can't stand that dumb, boring song. I felt totally opposite what the judges thought of him. While they thought he did a great job, I was ready to kill myself. It was boring, and I thought it was out of tune. I didn't quite understand the hoopla over his performance. I certainly Ju'Not vote for him and, despite what the judges said, I don't think he'll make it to the next round. Basically, this was one big "Huh" for me.

Following that snoozefest was Kristen McNamara who had annoyed me in earlier rounds but I was going to listen to her with an open mind as I recall her having a decent voice. I'm so glad she got rid of that purple s**t from her hair. She decides to sing Tracy Chapman's "Gimme One Reason" which I'd like to hear the reason she chose this song? It's not a good song to sing when trying to show off your vocal range. I feel Kristen could do much better than she did and she's the perfect candidate for a second chance in the wildcard round.

Okay, here we go. Next was Nathaniel Marshall. She (he) disgusts me. He's more annoying that Daniel Noriega and Mikelah Gordon combined. Right when I saw him, I immediately thought Olivia Newton John (which Simon referenced) mixed with John Waite mixed with Pat Benetar mixed with Simon LeBon. Dude...it's not 1980, we are near 30 years past that so get with the new millennium dudette. I don't understand the look and the piercings under his lips to look like fangs or something. What message is he sending looking like that? It sure ain't a fashion statement. I'll make the message for her. She looked ridiculous up there, like she was dressed up for Halloween or for an 80's costume party. I'm officially changing his name to Nachelle. He sings "I Would Do Anything For Love" by Meatloaf. It was quite painful and annoying to watch. I didn't get it? Was I watching a bad video on MTV? At almost seemed like a joke. I can't stand this guy but, biting my tongue, I know he was a better voice than what came out of his mouth. I pray that he doesn't get asked back for the wildcard round.

Felica Barton, Joanna Pacetti's replacement, was up next. She actually looks a bit like the Arianna of 90210. We don't know much about Felica as she didn't get any time in the auditions or Hollywood Week so I was interested in hearing her sing. She decides to sing Alicia Keys' "No One" which is a really hard song to sing. I'm torn on Felica. Parts of the song I thought she was good and parts, she just couldn't hit those "Keys". But, for seeing her for the first time, I'd clap my hands a few times as it was better than some of the other females we've seen. I think what could hurt her is that no one really knows who she is due to lack of screen time.

Next up was Scott MacIntyre who I originally thought was going to end the show but my second choice was at the end anyway. Scotty is my choice to go DEEP, I'm talking top 4. It's not just the blind factor, it's the originality of him. We have three blind artists that we really know growing up - Ray Charles who is the bluesy guy, Stevie Wonder who is the R&Bish guy, and Andrella Bochelli who is the opera guy. We don't have the pure pop blind guy yet so he satisfies a need.l Plus, once he gets behind the keyboard, he'll be even better. Scott's choice for the evening was Bruce Hornsby's "Mandolin Rain" and he changed it up nicely. Yes, he did botch a few notes but nerves, matches with not knowing where he was on the stage and not being in front of his keyboard could have thrown him off a bit. But, the notes he did hit was dead on. The guy will get better each week and there will be a lot of weeks we'll be seeing him despite him not seeing us.

Kendall Beard was probably not happy to follow fan favorite Scott. She's a very cute girl. She reminds me a bit of Carmen Rasmussen, less the acne. She performed Martina McBride's "This One's For The Girls". I thought she was going to be terrible, ala Casey Carlson, but she surprised me. She was far from great but she was decent which I guess is a bit better than average. She definitely had some pitch problems but she has the look and the marketability. I just wish she was a bit older to get a bit more polished.

Our favorite Puerto Rican, Jorge Nunez was up next. I remember in season two, Clay Aiken performed "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" and it was amazing. I haven't heard anyone perform it until Jorge gave it a shot. While it wasn't quite as good as Clay's, it was still pretty damn good. I think he has a very good shot to advance. If not, look for Jorge to be a lock for a wildcard spot.

Finally, there was Lil Rounds who was a lock for the final spot if it wasn't going to go Scotty. I like this girl. She has personality. She has a cute look, similar to LaToya London. She's got a story. And she got pipes. She sings just like Mary J. which showed when she sung her song - "Be Without You" and I loved it. I'm not a big Mary J Blige fan but I liked what I heard. It would have been nice to hear her do someone other than Mary J but she's a lock for the Top 12 just like I had previously advised.

So, the top vote getters will be Scott and Lil. As for the third spot, I would think it would be Jorge.

Well, that's it. It's time for the wildcard and then the real competition finally begins. I'm curious who's coming back for the Wildcard but I'm hoping they give Jamar and Osmond a chance as well. Let the guessing game begin.

Until then, Birdman Out.

Next 3 To Advance

2009-02-27T05:57:00.001-08:00

Adam Lambert and Allison Areheta were the obvious choices who advanced. But, I'm definitey pumped for Kris Allen as he didn't get much audition play and made it to the Top 12 with a smoothe voice.

So, if I was a betting man, they should definitely put Matt Giraud back in the wild card. And, maybe they'll stick Jasmine Murray and Megan Corkscrew back.

But, who cares. I'm ready for next week's final group of twelve who are:

Arianna Afsar, Ju’Not Joyner, Kristen McNamara, Nathaniel Marshall, Lil Rounds, Jorge Nuñez, Kendall Beard, Scott MacIntyre, Felicia Barton, Von Smith, Taylor Vaifanua, and Alex Wagner-Trugman.

Before even hearing them sing, the people who should advance next week are: Lil Rounds and Scott MacIntyre. Then, it's a toss-up but I'm rooting for Alex Wagner-Trugman.

Hey...as long as it's NOT Nathaniel Marshall, anyone can take that 3rd spot next week.

Until then, Birdman Out.

Group 2 Performs

2009-02-24T05:43:00.000-08:00

Wow...I don't know what to say about Group 2's performance but to sum it up, it was weak and boring with little talent. So, that being said, here's how it played out:

Just like last week, when you saw them lined up on the stairs, you saw that Adam Lambert was going last so that was obvious that he was going to be the one they made you wait an hour and 50 minutes to see (Note: that's in NON-DVR time).

Kicking off the show was Jasmine Murray who has been solid in the earlier auditions however, my outlook on her instantly changed about a sentence into her version of Sara Bareilles' "Love Song" when I uttered the words, "you suck" to the television. Her voice was all over the place. Maybe she was nervous but it was a horrible performance. She basically seemed lost on the stage and I know she can do better than what she showed us. She was really bad but maybe the judges give her another chance in the Wild Card round.

Next up was one of my early favorites, Matt Giraud, who did a fantastic job doing Ray Charles in front of the piano a few weeks ago but take away the piano, and you get a butchered version of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida." Matt really disappointed me last night. First of all, he got away from his blues voice and should have never done a song by a group as opposed to a solo artist. His voice was just off and the song was the totally wrong choice. He had a huge opportunity to blow away the judges and keep fans voting for him and he may have blown it. He went from Matt Giraud, the dueling piano player, to door Matt. I hope he gets a chance to sing in the wildcard and redeem himself.

Then we get to meet Jeanine Vailes who got zero play time in this process until now. She looks a bit like Leona Lewis with her long legs which Paula mentioned but they are by no means as nice as Haley Scarnato's legs from last season, or maybe that was the season before. Either way, legs don't make a singer unless you can sing...aka Tina Turner. However, Jeanine can't sing. Her song was Maroon 5's "This Love" and man, Adam Levine would have barfed up his dinner if he had heard this version. I'm sure this WON'T be a huge I-Tunes hit. I guess it showed why she received zero play time up until now.

And now it's time for Nick Mitchell or Normal Gentle. I'm shocked that this guy is in the Top 36 but he's entertainingly bad which is exactly who Normal Gentle is. He's an entertainer, a comedian, a lounge or comedy club act but he's not our next American Idol. But, he makes people laugh and smile but there are only 12 people that will get a chance to compete for this year's prize and he surely won't be one of them. His choice for the evening is "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" and sorry dude, you are totally going. But, it's been a fun ride and you can tell your kids one day that you performed in front of a television audience of over 20 million people. Hope he gets used to crowed of 100 and lower for his next live performance wherever that may be.

Following the comedy routine was Allison Iraheta. I'm not a big fan of her look mainly because of her pig nose. How many musical artists or actresses can you name with a "pig nose" besides Kristen Johnson (or 3rd Rock From The Sun) that has made it big? Exactly! Her lower teeth that make her look like she's got a wad of tobacco wedged in there is not helping (even though I think it could be braces). She, to me, is just this year's trailer trash girl. We seem to have one of these each year dating back to Nikki McKibbin and then Vanessa Oliverez and then Camille Velasco and then Jessica Sierra all the way up to last year's Amanda Overmyer. So, I'm not a fan of Allison for the time being. She chooses Heart's "Alone" which Carrie Underwood once rocked and I believe Gina Glockson once did a sold job with. So, for starters, the song's been done before. She did a decent job but I really don't love her voice and I just don't see it. I think the judges knew they had a weak crop of girls for the night and she was the best of the crop. It's almost like a farmer who has a cold winter and his oranges aren't the best but he has to tell the buyers that the oranges are great so he can sell them. That's basically what I think happened here. She was the best of the worst and I think the judges gushed way too much over her.

Kris Allen was next who we saw briefly early on in the auditions process but I didn't remember much about him. He has a good look that teenage girls will like so he had that in his favor until we found out he was going to sing Michael Jackson's "Man In the Mirror." So, taking on Michael is not the smartest thing, nor the easiest task but based on the song he did a decent job. It was a bit rusty in the beginning but he really stepped it up towards the second part of the song and showed that he has a good voice. I think this guy may not get the votes he needs as people really didn't remember him but I hope that if he doesn't make it that he'll get a second chance in the wild card round.

Megan Corkrey now took the stage. She's the one with the Carly Smithson tattooed arm, the face that looks like a cross between Jennifer Garner and Reese Witherspoon, with Darryll Hannah hair. Yeah, she's a good-looking girl and I think a makeover would really help her but I hate when people tattoo an entire body part where you see no skin. It actually would look better on those gothy people who wear black and have nasal piercings. Anyway, Megan annoyed me back in her original audition and her personality could get a bit under my skin but I'll put that aside for now and just judge her on her singing. She choices Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On" and it's a bit off key. And that was the best part of her performance. If you actually watched, the dancing or whatever the heck she was doing with her hands was quite disturbing. It was almost like she was having an mild epileptic fit or something. I thought she was going to better but I'm almost glad she didn't. I know the judges are in her corner as you could tell from their comments so she could be a lock to make it back for a second chance in the wild card round. Randy said she is like a cross between Adele, Duffy, and Amy Winehouse. All three of those people I can't stand.

Next up was Matt Breitzke, the welder, who performed Tonic's "If You Could Only See" and I wish I couldn't' see or hear. Ouch. It was painful. I hope he's a good welder as he'll be back in the goggles and yellow hard hat very soon after his performance. We already have the blue collar Michael Sarver in the Top 12 so this guy is the worse of the two. And his performance solidified that notion. He doesn't have a terrible voice but it's average at best. Plus, he has zero stage presence. Do you remember Matt Rogers of an earlier season? If I remember correctly, he just missed making the Top 12 for the same reasons; he's just out of his comfort zone.

Jesse Langseth was next. She's like the 8th single mom in American Idol this season? Is that what you need to be to make the Top 36? Just get knocked up that's the key. I actually loved Jesse's song choice, Kim Carnes "Bette Davis Eyes" and it was just average. Close your eyes. Can you even remember what this girl looked like? She was very forgettable. So, for voice I give a B. For that sweater thing she was wearing I give a D+. No real reason to talk about her as she's not advancing and next year, you'll be like Jesse who? I really wish she was just like Jesse's Girl.

Then came Kai Kalama who was good early on but was extremely disappointing in the Hollywood round. He has an interesting look to him and I think he could have a good voice if he focuses and doesn't get too corney in his performance. This time out, he sings Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes Of The Broken-Hearted" which a good song choice. I think he did a good job and could get better each week as he grows in confidence. Yeah, there were some part of the song that were a bit pitchy but I think he did enough to advance or at least make it to the wild card round to get another chance.

The final girl of the night was Mishavonna Henson. Yup...you heard me right...her first name is Mishavonna. Wow...now that's a rough name to have. I guess it's better than Pilot Inspektor or Apple, but it's still a lot to swallow. Anyway, Mishavonna is the second girl of the night with P.N.F. - Pig Nose Feature. She chose Train's "Drop Of Jupiter" which was the wrong song choice as she should have sung something from a solo female artist but it wouldn't matter. She's average talent on a weak night of competition but not as good as some of the others so her chance to advance is about the same chance I have of opening a can of diet coke and finding a person's finger inside. I'd rather read one of the Twilight books than see her ever perform again. She was my snack break for the night as I walked out 1/3rd of the way into the song.

Finally, it's Adam Lambert, who they made us wait for and it was worth the wait. He's a bit creepy looking and the left side of his cheek is a bit rough to look at but from further away, has this different look that is marketable. Plus, his voice is original and he has more stage presence than the other 11 contestants of the night have combined. He sings the Rolling Stone's "Satisfaction" and just tore up the stage making a classic song all his own. He's definitely a bit over the top and Broadwayish but he's what this competition needs and will definitely go extremely deep.

So, who advances? The top guy is easily Adam Lambert and the top girl should be Allison Iraheta. But, who gets the third most votes? I think it should be Kris Allen with Kai Kalama or Matt Breitzke going to the wild card.

That leaves next week's final group so it looks like blind guy - Scott McEntyre - will be the final performer of that night if the pattern of best goes last continues.

Then, I look forward to maybe seeing Jamal Rogers (Gokey's best friend) and David Osmond get asked back to the wild card despite not being in the Top 36. One can only hope.

Until next week...Birdman Out.

First 3 To Advance

2009-02-19T05:57:00.000-08:00

Last night we had the first three people advance.

The Top Female vote getter was Alexis Grace and she deservingly made it.

They didn't reveal who the Top Male vote getter was but Michael Sarver was announced first that he made it. Michael got a ton of screen time in the auditions round but is he really a better singer than Anoop or Ricky Braddy? Still, I'm happy for the guy.

And then they left Danny Gokey and Tatiana to create some drama. There was no way that Tatiana was going to pull the upset so the producers were just going to mess with her emotions which was fantastic. And they correctly put Gokey in the Top 12 and Tatiana was shell shocked.

What's gonna happen is that they are going to put Tatiana in the Wild Card Round to mess with her emotions once again. I guess if three or four people from this group can make the Wild Card Round, it would probably be Tatiana, Ricky Braddy, Anoop Desai, and probably Jackie Tohn whom gets me nauseous.

So, that's 3 and we still have 9 more to go.

Next week we get to see sing: Megan Corkrey, Kris Allen, Mishavonna Henson, Matt Breitzke, Allison Iraheta, Matt Giraud, Jasmine Murray, Kai Kalama, Jesse Langseth, Jeanine Vailes, Nick Mitchell, and Adam Lambert.

Based on what I know already, next week's Top 3 should be: Adam Lambert, Matt Giraud, and the girl is a tossup but I'd say Jasmine Murray.

We shall see. Until then, Birdman Out.

The First Group Of 12

2009-02-18T05:31:00.000-08:00

The true competition finally got underway with the first 12 singers doing songs from Billboard's Top 100 which basically much better than some of the 60's themes in last year's early rounds. The new format is tough with only three singers advancing but let's see how the night played out:

Right at the start of the show, you saw the singers in a line with Gokey at the end with Tatiana right before him. So, you knew the producers were gonna make us wait until the near end to see this Tatiana chick and since the show mostly ends on a high note, Gokey was to perform in the final spot which means he was going to rock it.

Anyway, first up is Jackie Tohn. She reminds me of Alanis Morissette on crack. She has been, and still totally annoys the heck out of me. She sings Elvis' "A Little Less Conversation" which is one of my most hated Elvis songs so right off the bat, I had little expectations for this chick. The version of the song was so bizarre and her voice was all over the place. Sometimes she's screaming and sometimes it sounds OK. The actual body movements on the stage was awkward, almost like her arms were having twitches that she couldn't control. I personally hated it but there is something that the judges still like about her so I could maybe see her getting a chance to come back for the Wildcard Round.

Next up is Ricky Braddy. Who is that you ask? I seriously have no clue. I don't think they really showed him much, if at all, in the entire audition process so this was fresh blood to judge. What could hurt him is that we don't know him yet and many of us already have our favorites. He sang Donny Hathaway's "A Song For You" which I've never heard of but maybe that's just me since I don't know much about music anyway. And I thought he did a fantastic job. He looked a bit like Jake Gyllenthal but sounded a lot like Clay Aiken. Huh! I think I like this guy. He could be a dark horse if he can quickly get a fan base to support him with phone calls.

Then, it was Alexis Grace's turn to hit the stage. She looks like a cross between a young Cindy Lauper mixed with Mena Suvari. She chose a difficult song, Aretha Franklin's "Never Loved A Man" and she did a decent job. She definitely didn't blow me away but for her age, she had some true soul and stage presence and I could see her getting a bit better each week if she advances. She was definitely the best female of the night but based on the females of the night, that wasn't saying much. Still...I'm not 100% sold on her yet but she's FAR from my biggest Idol enemy - Fantasia Barrino, whom you all know I loathe.

Brent Keith was up next doing a song that no one has ever heard of called "Hicktown." Not the smartest song choice when you have tons of 16 year old who dial in and you sing this song. The thing is, it wasn't half bad but wasn't great. He was a finalist for some country reality show so he's been through this process before. I just wish he chose another song. Paula compares him to Bucky Covington. What an insult. It's a joke that America is even purchasing Bucky Covington CDs. Unless you live in a trailer park, I would bet you couldn't name a single Bucky Covington song. So, that being said, this could have been the last we've seen of Brent.

Next up is Stevie Wright singing Taylor Swift's "You Belong To Me" and it was really Stevie WRONG. Holy crap...that was a terrible performance. She seems lost on stage from the first note to the last note. First of all, Taylor Swift doesn't have much talent so to take one of her crappy songs was a bad idea unless you were really good to make a bad song sound much better. If I had even heard a performance like this at a mall, I would have covered my daughter's ears. It just proves that there is only one Steven Wright and that's the comedian.

Anoop Desai was next to show off his voice singing Monica's "Angel Of Mine." He looked like Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire and sounded Yaminish. He had a good showing and did a solid job. He could be on the bubble of that third person to advance and if that doesn't happen, he should be a lock for the Wild Card round. But, it's hard not to like Anoop. So, I'll root for this guy. A.I.T.H. - Anoop In The House !

And out comes Casey Carlson who looks a bit like one of the Gossip Girls. Right off the bat, you knew the song choice was interesting choosing the Police's "Ever Little Thing She Does Is Magic" and she could have used some magic to get through this performance. This was a bedroom performance where you sing into your comb or hairdryer and it doesn't matter how bad you sound because the only things hearing you are all the dolls and stuffed animals on your floor. This performance made Stevie Wright's performance look like a Grammy winning song. It was one of the worst I've seen at this stage in 8 years of this show. She's a cute girl though so maybe when her boobs spout, she has a job pole dancing.

Next up was Michael Sarver, one of the two roughneck boys in the competition. He chose Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Wanna Be" and I was disappointed. I thought this guy was going to come out and sound great and it was average at best. I'm not sure if it was just nerves or it's he's not as good as I had thought he was the past few weeks. I actually hope he gets asked back for the wildcard round to see if last night was just a bad night or not.

Ann Marie Boskovich hit the stage next and she also chooses to do an Aretha Franklin song - "Natural Women." Can't people sing something other than Aretha? There are so many songs out there that to do Aretha, you gotta really be on top of your game. I actually thought she did a better job than the judges thought but it was still not that performance to have her advance. I also would love to see her get a chance in the Wildcard round as I know she can do better than what she had showed.

Stephen Fowler was up next to redeem himself for his lyric mishap in Hollywood Week. Right when they announced that he was singing Michael Jackson's "Rock With You," I knew he was doomed. Nobody can sing Michael except Michael. Nuff said. Stephen just looked out of it on stage as if he had stolen Michael Phelp's bong and took a few hits. His voice was all over the place and it was actually worse than a Keroeke performance. I think I may have gotten up with out hitting pause to get some JuJubees from the kitchen. Stephen, it's been a fun ride. Good luck in life.

Then it was time for what we were all waiting for. Yes, it was T.T. - Tatiana Time ! Tatiana del Loco Crazo Toro Cryo Luco Morono Weirdo was about to sing. And, she chose the artist that you NEVER should touch in Whitney Houston. People need to learn from past contestants mistakes singing Whitney. No one can sing better than her or do one of her classic songs better than her so why even attempt a Whitney song? Tatiana was much more mellow than she's been in the past. Maybe she was scared. Maybe she was focused. Maybe she knows that American can't stand her. Her singing was average. There were parts of the song that were nice and parts I just cringed in my chair. Let's face it. This girl ain't winning AI8. I don't think she's even getting past this round. I can see them putting her in the wildcard round to create more drama but I hope I'll never see her again unless on a blooper reel.

Finally, it was Danny Gokey who should be in the finals maybe against Scott MacIntyre (blind guy) or Matt Giraud or maybe even Ricky Braddy so far but this guy is a shoe in to go DEEP and probably win it which was obvious that the producers were thinking the same putting him last to end the show. His song choice was interesting going with Mariah Carey's "Hero." If "he" was a "she", then he should have NEVER gone the Mariah route but with "he" being a "he", it was a risk that if he nailed it, it could pay off huge dividends. It was the performance of the night. It was original. It was smooth. It was sung great in a raspy voice that could hit some great notes. I'm not music critic but I could easily buy a Gokey CD if he could sing like this. And, just watch, his boy Jamar will be part of the wildcard round. Just watch.

So, who advanced. Gokey is a lock for the first guy. You would think that Alexis takes the girls slot. That leaves the next highest vote getter which has gotta be either Anoop or Ricky Braddy. Even Michael Sarver could steal that final spot as he could have some sort of fan base already. I'd like to see Braddy take it with Anoop, Sarver, and Boscovich going to the Wildcard round. Even Jackie Tohn may be asked back to that round despite how much she annoys me similar to the way Paris Bennett and Mikelah Gordon got under my skin.

I guess we'll find out tonight !

Until then, Birdman Out.

TOP 36 REVEALED !

2009-02-12T05:39:00.001-08:00

It's impossible to comment on everything for Idol's Top 36 Reveal snoozefest. What's there to say about watching people walk down a sidewalk outside, then down a long corridor and then towards the judges to hear your fate. So, I'll basically just make some comments, thoughts, opinions, etc...

There were 54 contestants remaining and they were to cut 18 whom most were pretty obvious as of the 18, we knew very few of them. But, there were a few shockers.

Shocker #1 - How does Danny Gokey's best friend, Jamar Rogers NOT make the Top 36 when they chose a clown like Normal Gentle? Come on...Jamar can sing circles around Jamar. Here's my call....they'll be bringing Jamar back for the Wild Card Round as I heard they can take any of the Top 36, anyone from auditions, and rumors of anyone from prior seasons auditions. So, I'm thinking we haven't seen the last of Jamar. It's just a hunch.

Shocker #2 - The Joanna Pacitti scandal. This show was taped within the past two weeks so they give Pacitti the OK to make it into the Top 36. Then, this morning, they had disqualified her for being too experienced and being connected to two individuals that work at 19 Entertainment. Don't you think they would investigate this better before putting her in the Top 36? Her replacement is Felicia Barton, 26, Virgina Beach, VA.

Shocker #3 - Tatiana Del Toro makes it. This girl is a f**king clown and a total embarrassment. I think I hate her more than Mikelah Gordon and Danielle Noriega combined from prior season. I had such a feeling they were going to do this but I'm not that upset. Now she can sing live on Tuesday and then become hysterical when she's booting on live TV the following night. Based on the group she is performing in, three is no way she can advance. I'll go into more depth on this below.

More analysis below after this list of the TOP 36:

• Arianna Afsar, 16, San Diego, Calif.
• Kris Allen, 23, Conway, Ark.
• Kendall Beard, 23, Austin, Texas
• Anne Marie Boskovich, 22, Nashville, Tenn.
• Ricky Braddy, 25, Nashville, Tenn.
• Matt Breitzke, 27, Bixby, Okla.
• Casey Carlson, 20, Minneapolis
• Megan Corkrey, 22, Sandy, Utah
• Tatiana Del Toro, 23, Los Angeles
• Anoop Desai, 21, Chapel Hill, N.C.
• Stephen Fowler, 26, Beachwood, Ohio
• Matt Giraud, 23, Kalamazoo, Mich.
• Danny Gokey, 28, Milwaukee
• Alexis Grace, 20, Memphis, Tenn.
• Mishavonna Henson, 18, Irvine, Calif.
• Allison Iraheta, 16, Los Angeles
• Ju'Not Joyner, 26, Bowie, Md.
• Kai Kalama, 26, San Clemente, Calif.
• Brent Keith, 28, Blanchester, Ohio
• Adam Lambert, 26, Los Angeles
• Jesse Langseth, 25, Minneapolis
• Scott MacIntyre, 23, Scottsdale, Ariz.
• Nathaniel Marshall, 18, Malone, N.Y.
• Kristen McNamara, 22, Napa, Calif.
• Nick Mitchell, 27, Brookfield, Conn.
• Jasmine Murray, 16, Starkville, Miss.
• Jorge Nuñez, 20, Carolina, Puerto Rico
• Joanna Pacitti, 23, Philadelphia (DISQUALIFIED) - Replaced by Felicia Barton, 26, Virgina Beach, VA
• Lil Rounds, 23, Memphis, Tenn.
• Michael Sarver, 27, Jasper, Texas
• Von Smith, 22, Kansas City, Mo.
• Jackie Tohn, 27, Los Angeles
• Taylor Vaifanua, 16, Hurricane, Utah
• Jeanine Vailes, 27, Sherman Oaks, Calif.
• Alex Wagner-Trugman, 19, Los Angeles
• Stevie Wright, 16, Phelan, Calif.

The format is different this year. The past few years, we've had a Top 24 where 4 people (2 guys / 2 girls) get eliminated each week to get to the Top 12. I liked that you got to seem them perform each week. Instead this year, there will be three groups of 12 and you'll hear them perform once with 3 people advancing each week (highest guy vote getter, highest girl vote getter, and the third person doesn't matter the sex as long as that person had the 3rd highest amount of votes.). So, once they advance, you don't hear them perform until the Top 12 begins. So that kind of stinks. Then, after three weeks, you'll have 9 people remaining before the wild card round where they will pick 12 people to perform with the judges selecting the final three people. However, I feel they are going to do a Top 13 this year. The reason being that in the past when we had a wild card round, each judge selects a person. However, there are four judges this year so 9 + 4 equals 13. So, that's just a hunch I have.

Performing in the first group is Casey Carlson, Stephen Fowler, Jackie Tohn, Ricky Braddy, Anne Marie Boskovich, Brent Keith, Alexis Grace, Michael Sarver, Stevie Wright, Danny Gokey, Tatiana Del Toro, and Anoop Desai.

Before you even hear them sing, you know that Danny Gokey is a lock to receive the most votes. So, that's the guy. As for the girl, I'm thinking Jackie Tohn (whom I can't stand), Annie Marie Boskovich, and Alexis Grace will battle it out for the girl's vote with the other two maybe making it to the Wild Card. And, you'd think that Michael Sarver gets the next amount of votes to make it with Anoop Desai being asked back for the Wild Card.

Officially now knowing the Top 36, here is how the Top 12 (or maybe 13 but I'm sticking with 12 until that really happens) should be (and I think it will be an uneven mix of 7 guys and 5 girls) in no particular order:

1. Danny Gokey
2. Scott MacIntyre
3. Lil Rounds
4. Adam Lambert
5. Anne Maria Boscovich
6. Michael Sarver
7. Matt Giraud (he's my dark horse and could get better each week)
8. Alexis Grace
9. Anoop Desai
10. Kristen McNamara
11. Brent Keith
12. Jackie Tohn

(Note: I don't fee as confident with the girls picks as I do with the guys picks)

The Early Pick For The Finals: Gokey vs Lambert

Catch ya next week. Same Bird Time...Same Bird Channel.

Birdman Out

Top 36 Tonight !

2009-02-11T05:37:00.000-08:00

Tonight is the night we've been waiting for - The Top 36 Is Finally Revealed. For the first time last night, they actually showed some decent singing.

Let's first talk about the boys:

Adam Lambert took a huge risk singing Cher's "Believe" but he changed it up and it was wild and if he could pull off changing up a song like that so early in the competition, then he could be a person to reckon with in the Top 12.

We then saw the Dueling pianist, Matt Giraud who blew everyone away with Ray Charles' "Georgia On My Mind." He's gotta be a lock for the Top 12 as well.

Jamar Rogers then sang "Hey There Deliah" and did a solid job but his best friend, Danny Gokey (aka Dead Wife Guy) just blew him away with some song I never heard of. Jamar will be on the bubble for the Top 12 while Gokey is a lock.

We saw something quite interesting, an Indian guy, Anoop Desai, performing a Bobby Brown song. It looked a bit strange to see but he did a solid job belting out "My Perogative." He's surely on the bubble to make the Top 12.

And again, we get another good performance from Jorge Nunez, the guy from Puerto Rico. He'll be in the Top 36 but I'm not sure he makes the Top 12.

Scott MacIntyre, the blind guy, finally hits the stage. We haven't heard this guy perform since his initial audition so I was ready to see what he has. He put a nice spin on Daughtry's "Home" and he was great. Move over Stevie Wonder...we could have this generations next new blind music star.

We got to see Michael Sarver do a good job. I wish we got to see Alex Wagner Trugman sing.
And Nathaniel. I don't like this guy at all but he had one of his best performances. He'll be in the Top 36 but please do NOT vote him in the Top 12 as he doesn't deserve it NOR could I stand to see him sing week after week.

Normal Gentle, hmmmm, I'm not sure what to think about this guy? Is he Top 36 material? He seems to keep on advancing and I'm not sure why. He could make the Top 36 but he'll be gone very quickly.

Kai Kalama did a horrific job as his voice wasn't there but I know he's better than what he showed.

As for the ladies:

Lil' Rounds stood out as one of the best girls as well as Kristen McNamara. These two are locks for the Top 36.

And Tatiana. Oye Vey. This girl is so obnoxious and annoying. Her last of a zillion audition songs was "Black Velvet" and I can't stand a second of it. I don't like her. I don't like her personality. I don't like her voice. I don't like anything about her except seeing her cry as that makes for great TV.

Alexis Grace did an okay job but I expected more from here while Jasmine Murray was a bit disappointing in her final song. I still expect both of these girls to be in the Top 36.

And what happened to Joanna Pacitti forgetting her words? I thought this chick had a recording contract at one point? No wonder it failed. I still think she'll get into the Top 36, get her act together, and make the Top 12 as she has one of the better voices.

So, I'm sure I'm missing some people but they were all broken down into 4 rooms of 18. The math was so obvious. If they got rid of 2 rooms, that would leave them with the Top 36 so you knew they were only gonna get rid of one room and that room was obvious when you saw who was in each room. So sorry Michael Castro...now you can go back and get high with your big brother Jason.

And yes, Tatiana advanced again but they are setting this loser up for a major meltdown and I can't wait to see it whether it's tonight or next week. She's a disaster.

So, who makes the Top 36? I guess we'll see tonight and that will then make the Top 12 much easier to pick. But, with this year's format, there won't be an even match of guys to girls so look for a higher number of boys to be part of the Top 12 than the girls.

There are five guys that stand out above the rest right now: Danny Gokey, Matt Giraud, Scott MacIntyre, Michael Sarver, and Adam Lambert. Then, if you add in Anoop and Jamar Rogers, that gets you 7 guys leaving 5 girls who could be Lil Rounds, Anne Marie Boskovich, Joanna Pacitti, which leaves only two spots left which I hope one of those does NOT go to Jackie Tohn.

I guess we'll tweak this a bit more after tonight. Until then, Birdman Out.

Hollywood Round: Group Night

2009-02-05T05:36:00.001-08:00

Well, the Hollywood Round was having its annual group night fiasco. I'm never a fan of group night as you could be a good singer stuck in a terrible group and that could seal your fate.

Idol was painful to watch this round. They spent 28 minutes of the show showing people forming groups and such nonsense until we first got to hear them on stage. Most of the hour was spent watching Tatiana Del Toro cry and tell us how much she wants it and how great she is. She makes me want to puke. She' snot that good and she's such a drama queen. I want to throw her on the ground, take a plunger that was just used to unclog feces from the toilet, and start plunging her face. She annoyed the living shit out of me when we first saw her and last night I was ready to punch a hole in the TV screen every time I saw her get airtime which was about 50% of the hour show.

There was 104 people that was broken into groups and again, Idol did a terrible job showing them sing, who advanced, and who got the boot. One thing that pissed me off was that my audition early pick to win - David Osmond - who was great in his audition and great in his first Hollywood audition got the boot. Why? Did he go from amazing to horrific overnight? Probably not. It was probably the result of him being in a horrific group that picked a horrific song. But, they spent so much time in the auditions giving us his back story on MS that I'm sort of confused why he had about a second of airtime yesterday where we learned he was going on. This is a guy they should have at least let us see what happened to him.

So, with Osmond gone, there are three standout guys - Danny Gokey, Matt Giraud, and Michael Sarver. Right now, I'm gonna ride the Gokey train (Note: this is NOT a sexual comment....I'm just rooting for the guy) and see what happens but all three should be locks for the Top 12. I guarantee you'll see each of these three in different groups of 12 once the Top 36 is revealed so they'll each have a good shot to make it.

I'm very happy that Rose Flack is gone. Her voice was just okay but I couldn't look at her. She was such trailer trash with her messy blonde hair and bad teeth. She probably has B.O. on most days and she just skeeved me out. So, I hope she goes back home and at least takes a shower.

And Bikini Girl is gone. They spent too much time talking about her and her group. First she quits. They, she's back to sing. She does an OK job but nothing fantastic. She's had enough screen time this season already. Look for her soon in a 2009 edition of Girls Gone Wild. At least Rose and Bikini Girl didn't screw things up for Jasmine Murray who did a good job despite being around train wrecks.

And seriously, enough of Nathaniel Marshall. Between this dude and Tatiana both crying and bitching and moaning, I had enough. Stop being such a drama queen and just sing your song. Did we get more than 15 minutes of actual singing if we added it all up?

Jorge Nunez and Norman Gentle advanced but we really didn't see much of what they sung.

Ann-Marie Boskovich and Alex Wagner Trugman advanced but poor Emily Hughes flopped. She was one of the first good people we saw on the first night of auditions and she was just horrible last night. The more I saw of her, the less I liked so I'm actually glad she's gone as there are too many girls left that sound just as annoying as she sounds with that same raspy voice.

The best performance of the night was by "The Rainbow Coalition" with Gokey, his best friend Jamar Rogers, and Taylor Vaifuana. There was some other person in that group but I don't know who that was. They went acapella and it was the best performance of the few performances we saw.

A few other standouts were Michael Sarver who now is using Jeremy before the Michael for some reason, Adam Lambert who looks like he should be in Fall Out Boy, and Matt Breitzke who looks like one tough dude.

And why are so many groups singing Duffy's "Mercy?" I hate that song as it annoys me when I hear it on the radio and listening to other people sing it makes it even worse than the original.

It would also be nice, after two nights of Hollywood to see Blind Guy - Scott McEntyre - and also Joanna Pacitti, aka the chick who also had the recording contract. Let's see what these two have?

And that was basically the show. We really didn't see much last night but now they are down to 75 people and just 2 episodes left to get that number to 36.

Now, with all the drama gone, they really need to show them sing on Tuesday night. Enough of the crying. Enough of the nonsense. Let's see some singing. Let's see the talent. If I wanted to see an hour of crying, I'd just rewatch Monday night's "The Bachelor."

But until then, Birdman Out.

Hollywood Week - Night #1

2009-02-04T05:52:00.000-08:00

Finally, we've suffered enough through three weeks of Auditions or 9 hours of painful programming. So, we are almost ready to get down to business.

We are starting Hollywood Week with 147 contestants with that number eventually dropping to 36 by the end of next week.

I actually liked that they were given a chance for some brief vocal training plus having their hair and makeup done. This gives them a slightly better chance off the bat so this was a good change.

It's really hard to comment on everything during Hollywood Week as you really can't tell who is in each row and they don't provide everyone's names either so for the next two weeks, I'm just going to talk about things that stood out as opposed to everything that happened but all that will change once we are at the Top 36 and then I'll be ready to rip some of these no-talent wannabees to shreds.

For now, here is what I liked:

Lil Rounds - she had a strong voice and a good personality so this girl definitely has Top 12 potential.

I was so glad that they got rid of Dennis Brigham. He sucked from his original audition so they threw in out where he belongs.

Anoop Desai, the Indian boy, sung a Stevie Wonder song and did a great job. How many Indian recording artists do you know? I'd be curious if he could garner some votes to advance into the Top 36.

Also, there was Jorge Nunez, from Puerto Rico who is the Puerto Rican version of Anoop Desai. They both have strong voices and they bring some much needed ethnicity into the competition.

Norman Gentle was back and quite entertaining. I just would love to see him come out in a T-Shirt and jeans, put the act away, and let me see if he really has a voice. Once this guy finally gets eliminated, which is unenviable, he does have a career on the comedy circuit doing the Norman Gentle act.

What bothered me next is that we had to sit through a Idol Ford commercial but we didn't' get to see Scott McIntyre (the blind guy) and Frankie Jordan sing even though they advanced. I would have liked to have heard them to refresh my memory.

To start day two of the process, there was Jackie Tohn. I can't stand this girl. She really annoys the hell out of me from her voice to her appearance to her personality.

One of my favorite performances of the night was Danny Gokey (he's the one with the dead wife). This guy has the look, the back story, and the voice to go very deep into this competition. I can easily see this guy going DEEP, like Top 5 deep.

Also, we saw Bikini Girl. She looked good with clothing on and has an okay voice. Her personality and the fact that she auditioned half naked is not hurting her either. She's sticking around but she'll be one of those people that sweat it out for the Top 36 only to miss it as she's not quite good enough.

Michael Sarver and David Osmond had solid performances and advanced. I'd love to see these two go deep but I'm hearing internet rumors that David Osmond doesn't make the Top 36. I wonder if he had a bad night coming up or maybe gets stuck in a bad group for the group night that could have hurt him. I hope the rumors are wrong as he was my pre-hollywood pick to win the whole thing after nailing it the past two seasons.

Alexis Grace had a terrible performance but she got to squeak by to the next day. We didn't' get to hear Adam Lambert and Anne Marie Boskovich sing but they advanced as well.

So, they are now down to 104 meaning 43 got cut after the first Hollywood Round.

Hopefully they show more signing on night #2 than they did as we surely didn't see enough of the 104 people advancing to really get to know these people.

Sorry this was such a boring recap but blame that on the producers.

Catch ya tomorrow...same Bird time...same Bird channel.

Birdman Out.

New York / Puerto Rico Auditions

2009-01-30T05:52:00.000-08:00

Well, they saved the most boring show for last. First of all, 9 people from Puerto Rico made it and 26 from New York. Isn't New York the capitol of the world? Why did New York have to share half of the time with Puerto Rico? Of the 26 people from New York that made it, they showed us maybe three or four worthy of Hollywood. So, here is now the final audition night (back and fourth between NY and PR) went :

First up is Adeola who has a terrible accent and quit her job to audition. Obviously, even before she sang, this was a huge mistake. She totally botches a Jennifer Hudson song and the rest of the her screen time seemed staged to have Simon call up her boss, get him on the phone, and ask them to give Adeola her job back. Come on...this was all set up by the producers. It wasn't believable for a second.

Down in San Juan was Jorge Nunez, I wasn't really sure what he was telling us as he had a tough accent. She sings some Spanish song and he has a great smooth and powerful voice. Then, she sings "What A Wonderful World" in English and nailed it. Idol hasn't had a good Latino on its show since AJ Helton and he wasn't even that good. So, good for Jorge !

Then came Jessika Baier how has won over 700 singing contests plus, was voted "World's Most Beautiful Baby". When they showed her baby picture, there must have only been one or two other people in that baby competition as she wasn't even a cute baby. So, Jessika, who flew to Puerto Rico from Michigan, sings Celine Dion and it was destructive to my eardrum. How did she win 700 contests unless she was in trashy county fairs against people with no teeth up. Or, she sang for contests sponsored by the hearing impaired. Hey....I can even win a singing contest if I flew to Wyoming and entered a singing contest at the local YMCA and I'm tone deaf. She claims she was nervous after the judges destroyed her dreams. It actually brought me much joy to see this chick cry. Hopefully she was able to enjoy the rest of her stay in Puerto Rico.

Next up is Melinda Camille who loves to dance naked and wants to be in a nudist colony. Uh, okay...whatever floats her boat. She actually was a terrible dancer but had a great personality. She just needs to massage her gums a bit as they were a bit overwhelming when she smiled. Anyway, she sang "Feeling Good" and it was actually good, a bit like Vonzell Solomon (one of my favorites). And if her music career fails, she could always strip for Hustler magazine.

Jackie Tohn was next to show what she got. She sings a Jason Mraz song so I knew it was going to be annoying as all Jason Mraz songs are. And I was right...it was indeed annoying. It was like Melissa Ethridge was doing Mraz but worse. Her voice was very scratchy as if she would smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day. This girl really bothered me but she did something right as the judges gave her a trip to Hollywood. However, I don't see her advancing past that, knock on wood.

The most annoying audition then went to Joel Contreras who came out in a cardboard cutout of a giant iPod. So, right off the bat, you knew this wasn't going to be good and he was doing anything possible to get TV time. And it worked...they showed him on TV. But, as for his singing, it was truly three minutes of my life that I'll never be able to get back.

Nick Mitchell or Norman Gentle was next. This guy was a total loser and trying to be funny as well and it also annoyed the hell out of me. The guy had NO talent and a terrible voice and since he made them laugh, they gave him a pass to Hollywood. He'll be part of the first cut on Tuesday as he really sucks.

Monique Garcia Torres comes in and brings along her kid brother as her good luck charm. She first sings "You Can't Hurry Love" by the Supremes and then they let her sing "I Turn To You" by Christina Aguilara. She had an average voice at best but I guess it worked out to bring her brother as they didn't want to break her heart in front of him so she got the Hollywood ticket.

The most irritating person of last season was now back - Alexis Cohen. She was that crazy rocker, white trash chick from last year that gave the judges the finger. She's disgusting and she tried her best to make her as pretty as possible this year but looked just as disgusting but in a different way. It wouldn't matter what she sang as she had no talent but she chose "Like A Prayer" which is basically her odds to advanced. Of course she didn't get the golden ticket and followed it up with her patented fingers at the judges. Let's hope we don't see her again next year.

Finally, we were down to the last auditioner, Patricia Roman who looks a bit like a Puerto Rican Leona Lewis. So, you'd figure the last person we saw would be really good. NOPE ! She chose Whitney Houston. Haven't people learned NOT to touch a Whitney song? Basically, enough said.
So, Hollywood week starts next week. We've seen a lot of garbage so it may not be that hard to determine the Top 36 so I'm gonna take a stab at it: Actually, I'm only able to come up with 15 girls and 15 guys which is 30 so maybe there are three of each gender we really didn't get to see.

So, I now present 30 of the Top 36 (in no particular order)

GIRLS:
Emily Hughes
Stevie Wright
Deanna Brown
Jessica Paige Furney
Asa Barnes
Lil Rounds
Joanna Pacitti
Alexis Grace
Sharon Wilbur
Jasmine Murray
Anne Marie Boskovich
Frankie Jordan
Megan Corkey
Taylor Vaifuana
Rose Flack

BOYS:
Michael Sarver
Cody Sheldon
Alex Wagner-Trugman
Scott MacEntyre
Matt Breitzke
Danny Gokey
Adam Lambert
Kai Kalama
Brent Keith
Matt Giraud
Joshua Ulloa
TK Hash
David Osmond
Austin Sisnieros
Jorge Nunez

Until Hollywood Week...Birdman Out.

Salt Lake City Auditions

2009-01-29T05:53:00.001-08:00

Well, the auditions now take use to Salt Lake City. Would the Mormons be out auditioning? Would there be talent? Would there be crap? Let's see:

First up was off spring from everyone's favorite Utah family, The Osmonds. The person is David Osmond, son of Alan, one of the quadrillion Osmonds from the variety show of the 70's. At first, I thought he had an unfair advantage due to his last name but right off the bat, we found out that this guy has got a story as he is suffering from MS and had recently been in a wheel chair. He chooses an odd song from Take 6 but one line into the song, I turn to my wife and say, "This could be our next American Idol." The guy had all the tools - the look, the story, the personality,the stage presence, and the voice. So you heard it here first - David Osmond is your next American Idol. And if I'm wrong, Meatloaf said it best, "Two out of Three Ain't Bad." Plus, I'll blame the loss on Donny and Marie's cheese factor which could scare away voters. But, from what I've seen the past three weeks, I think we got a winner.

So, we now go from great to not so great in the form of Tara Matthews. She comes out in this red hair, black outfit with a mini skirt and stockings almost half way up her thighs but they should have been pulled up all the way to hide her chub. I don't get the whole "goth" thing. People who go goth I know are trying to make a statement but I'm not sure what that statement is. It sure ain't a fashion statement. Hey...if they want to dress like that, then go ahead. It only gives me more material to make fun of. Anyway, she tells us she has ESP. She should have used her ESP to know what the judges were gonna say so she could spare herself the embarrassment of her audition. She sings a song from the "Moulin Rouge" soundtrack but she probably should have sung a song from "The Toxic Avenger." The singing was hideous and I'm sure there were at least a handful of people who committed suicide while watching her performance.

After a montage of garbage, we get to meet Chris Kirkham who brings his friend dressed up as a pink rabbit and says its his good luck charm. He also is holding a picture of Simon glued to a tongue depressor. Not sure what that was all about but his gimmick wasn't going to work. He starts with "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and the judges ask the bunny to move away. He then sings some other song which I've never heard of. So, Chris and his bunny can hop out of the audition room and see if they can book a gig for Easter.

Next up was Frankie Jordan who is a stay-at-home mom. She looks a bit like Sarah Silverman whom I can't stand so I'm already dreading her sing. She has this Amy Winehouse vibe to her and I can't stand Winehouse. I'm sick of Amy's drug use. I'm sick of hearing about her arrests. I'm sick of hearing about her loser husband. She's repulsive to look at and I think her music is beyond horrible and I don't understand why she wins awards. I guess the people who vote for the Grammy's and other awards must be deaf and blind. Anyway, about a sentence into Frankie Jordan, I said, "I fucking hate this." I seriously hated it and I know she has a chance to be in the Top 12 as the judges liked her. I am rooting for her to flop in Hollywood or beg people not to vote for her if she makes the Top 36.

Then came Megan Corkey, another mother. What is it with all these Utah girls getting knocked up in their low 20's? I thought they refrain from sex in Utah? So, Megan comes out with a Carley Smithson arm - all tattooed up. I have no issues with a tattoo here or there but if you cover an entire arm, you look a bit ridiculous. That's my opinion so if you are reading this and have a body part completely covered, don't be offended that I think you look ridiculous. She is good looking and actually has nice teeth but what came out of the mouth really annoyed me. I thought it was weird, annoying, strange, and bad. However, the judges loved it and Simon said she was one of his favorites. Hopefully she can show off her voice better with a better song as I don't hate her but hated her audition. She could be standing in the Top 12 if the pieces fall right.

Following Megan was Austin Sisneros who is the senior class president of his high school. He was auditioning to inspire people. Okay, whatever dude. He first sings a song from Train which I've never heard of. He actually had a good voice but gets to sing a bit of another song. He chooses Raffi. What high school kid even knows a song by Raffi. I'm in my upper 30's and I couldn't even name a Raffi song let alone sing one. Lucky for Austin that he has a good personality and a nice voice so he'll be one of those ones that sweats it out in Hollywood week but could have his heart broken.

Next up is Taylor Vaifanua who was raised as an island singer. She's really tall so if she fails at singing, there is always life as a person who stands on ladders in the islands and knocks the coconuts down. She sang this song about Jesus and the Lord. Come on. Anytime someone does this, you think of a church choir. We are looking for America's next Idol, not America's best lead in your town choir. Lucky for her, she had a nice voice so hopefully, for her sake, she sings something more appealing come Hollywood.

Finally, its Rose Flack's turn to audition. She had this messy blond hair. What is weird is that from one side looking at her, she was attractive. From the other side, she was dirty and from the front, she looked like complete white trash. Her parents are both deceased and is living with another family. Her voice didn't blow me away but it was adequate. She has a good personality so with some dental work, and a fashion / beauty makeover, they could make her look decent. I think she could be headed for heartbreak in the final round of Hollywood.

It basically all doesn't matter. Unless there is a major standout from East Rutherford or Puerto Rico, David Osmond will be crowned champion in May.

But for now, Birdman out.

Jacksonville Auditions

2009-01-28T06:22:00.000-08:00

Well, the auditions now took us to Jacksonville which had a few gems and a bunch more duds. So, here's how the night played out:

First up was Joshua Ulloa whom they said looked like Justin Guarini. Well, this guy did had a lot of hair but I don't think he looked a thing like Guarini. I wasn't sure what this guy's issue was at first as he was making these strange poses but then he starts up singing Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" and I think we have one of the front runners. This guy has a smooth voice, a bit like Elliot Yamin, but with more soul. He also does these sound effects, sort of like beat boxing but not to the extreme of Blake Lewis. This guy's original and remember the name - Joshua Ulloa - as we'll be watching him for a few months.

Then came Sharon Wilbur. First of all, I hate the last name "Wilbur" but that's probably because my daughter watched "Charlotte's Web" for three straight months in the kitchen while eating dinner. Anyway, Sharon has a dog with her named Sasha to help keep her relaxed. She has a good look to her except for the long hippie dress she was wearing. I think they need to show off more of her instead of her wearing this moo-moo dress as she has a marketable look to her. She sings "Superstar" and while it started off a bit scratchy for me, she put it together as the song went on. She's a lock for the top 36 and there is a chance she could squeak into the Top 12 if the chips fall right.

We then briefly get to see Dana Moreno with her red shirt and Michael Jackson hat. She is beyond out of tune as she butchers "Through The Fire" so I'm glad they didn't give her much more air time that what we saw.

Then came Kanewsa Finnie, the 16 year old who came with her mom. She was a bit nervous but it didn't really matter as she destroyed "Caught Up In The Rapture Of Love." Her mom believes her daughter is a good singer. This is where a mother needs to stop lying to her daughter and just tell her the truth already. Or, Kaneswa should just divorce herself from her mom as Drew Barrymore did in "Irreconcilable Differences."

Next up was Julissa Veloz, tho came out with her Tiara and ribbon around her chest (I know they call this something but I can't think of what its called) from some Latino beauty pageant. Julissa does Whitney and I hated it but the judges loved her. Maybe she turns out to be good and gets to the top 36 but I'm not on the Julissa bandwagon and by the way, I HATE girls who do pageants. Ever see those shows on cable...they are all creepy and come from creepy families.

Following was Darin Darnell who has an Usher-like look to him. I thought this guy was gonna be great as he had the look but after he "sang" Boys II Men's "It's So hard To Say Good-bye To Yesterday," he surely doesn't have the chops. If you could get arrested for murdering a song, they'd lock this guy up for 20+ years.

Naomi Sykes was next. She has this Debbie Gibsonish, Ashley Tisdaleish, duck like look to herself. She also claims to sing like Mariah Carey so when she sang the first line of "Loving You" all I thought was "SIGN HER UP!!!" NOT ! She was like the tootsie pop owl - first she sucked and then she bit. She had got to be tone deaf to think she sings like Mariah. I'd rather force down a bowl of rice pudding or cottage cheese than to have to ever listen to this chick sing again. Then, she started to cry. I want to barf when they cry and get the hug from the judges. They should let them cry with out the hug as far as I'm concerned.

At the end of day one, only nice people have made it through to Hollywood. So, here's how day two went:

The second day starts with Jasmine Murray singing Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry." First of all, she has a story about her mom's health problems and how Jasmine wasn't supposed to live so once you know there's a story, she's a lock for the top 36. She did a good job but for my taste, she sounded a bit like Jordin Sparks but not as good. So, that being said, look for her to get eliminated at some point in the Top 36.

Then came George Ramirez, the physics student with this giant beard making him look like this weird looking Omish unibomber dude. He sort of sings "Walking On the Sunshine" and it was more like Barfing Of The Sidewalk. Come on ...what this like a non-real orgasm - aka FAKE? I couldn't tell if this was all staged to get on TV but either way, he was still a bit off.

In walks Anne Marie Boskovich who basically started off singing a bit of a Kara song that no one would EVER know. Okay...great ass kissing Anne Marie. So, now was the annual audition where they give someone time to either change their image or song and come back. This happens once a season and Anne Marie was that person this year. So, I'll get back into Anne Marie one she comes back.

Following was TK Hash (sounds like some sort of drug to me). He auditioned last year for Idol and didn't make it and I'm not sure why. He could is The Black Elliot Yamin. I loved that he did a version of "Imagine" that was different and had the ability this early in the competition to change it up. He did a great job and I can totally see him in the Top 12 this year.

Michael Perrelli was up next. This is the guy that has a fetish with his guitar but unfortunately, he is not allowed to use the guitar at this stage of the game. He sings "Hey, Deliah" and then "Jumper" and I thought he did a decent enough job to get to Hollywood as I would have loved to have seen him sing with the guitar. But, unfortunately, this guy is an emotional mess and didn't make it. He had talent and I hope he doesn't turn out to be this year's Josiah Lemming.

Annie Marie is now back, all dolled up in makeup and a skirt and looking a lot more attractive. She looked a bit like Audrina Partridge less the cross eyes. But, I thought she did a great job singing. As for the Top 12, she's on the bubble but I can totally see her on in the Top 36.

So, 16 people from Jacksonville are heading to Hollywood. Tomorrow night, we go to Salt Lake City to see how the Mormons sing. Until then, Birdman Out.

Louisville Auditions

2009-01-22T05:39:00.001-08:00

First of all, after watching the Louisville auditions, I vow to NEVER go to that city. What a bunch of inbreds. I must say that Louisville was much better than San Francisco so let's see what went down:

First up is Tiffany Shedd. She was the 18 year old blond, with black eyebrows, and that HUGE mole on her breasts. If you are gonna wear a shirt that shows cleavage, you need to get that thing removed. She was such a hick with a terrible accent. She tells us that she sings private concerts for her mother. Okay...that would make your album sales equal 1. That's 499,999 more to go to get gold album. Anyway, she went the Mariah Carey route of singing "Hero". Now, I know she wasn't deaf and I know she didn't have laryngitis so there was no excuse for the judges to let her sing more than the first sentence. She claims she is "never gonna give up" so I guess that means more concerts for her mother (that poor woman).

The next contestant we see is Joanna Pacitti. She's the pretty one with nice eyes and dark hair. She's been in the music business and has been signed by A&M. I guess she's this year's Carley Smithson. She decided to sing "We Belong" by Pat Benatar which was a great choice. I think between voice, personality and appearance, she could be on the cusp of the Top 12.

Then came Mark Mudd wearing those stupid ties with the rubber stands hanging down looking like a stethoscope. These things should be banned. Our vice principal in high school wore one of these and looked like a total jackass. Anyway, this Mudd guy is the product of what happens when first cousins mate. He's a bit "off" and looks like he's on death row or soon to be on it after threatening the judges with his "be careful." Hey...if he's gonna kill someone, make it be Kara. Anyway, where's this guy's teeth? And, he said he's 25 years old but looks 40. I'm not sure what the hell he was singing but it didn't matter as he has as much talent as a circus clown's pubic hair.

Following was Brent Keith. Supposedly, he was a finalist from "Nashville Star" but I guess that didn't pan out. This guy has a good look and girls will love him. He reminds me a bit like Chris Richardson but better looking and a much better singer. He sings a Bad Company song and did a good job. He'll be standing there in the top 36 for sure.

After a montage of some pathetic souls, out came Matt Giraud, the dueling piano player. Supposedly, he taught himself how to play piano four years ago with out a lesson. This guy was one of my favorites for all the audition episodes so far. If he improves his personality, he could go deep. I'm looking forward to see what he can really do while singing with a piano. But, this guy could be a dark horse this season.

Then there was Ross Bradley Plavsic, another Kentucky inbred. He was talking about Chinese characters and their radicals. I'm not sure what the f**k he was talking about nor do I care. I just wanted to hear him sing and then get the boot as you knew that was gonna happen. He has this odd voice where is sounds almost like a ghost or a ghoul. I guess he could probably do a great rendition of "The Monster Mash" but I don't see him doing any more in the music world besides that. I guess it's back to his arithmetic dissection of the Chinese logarithms and radical hypothesis theory.

That ended the first day. I believe they said that ten contestants made it through to Hollywood. I think they showed us only like three of them. Come on...I want to see people that can sing. If I wanted to see shitty singing, I can watching myself sing in the mirror.

Kicking off day two was Alexis Grace. She was the cute girl that has a daughter that she takes care of while the father attends military school. She actually did a great job and has a strong voice. Her singing wasn't quite my taste but she did a good job. She'll be in the Top 36 but I'm not sure if she can squeak into the Top 12. But, she has a good story and they gave her a lot of air time so who knows. The jury is still out on her.

Then there as Aaron Williamson, another Louisville product. This guy comes out saying "I want to win America's Next Top Model." Ha ha. So, we got a comedian. Dude...you gotta come up with something funnier than that especially if you can't sing. This guy reminds me of Hanging With Mr. Cooper. This guy yells Credence Clearwater's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" and it was painful, irritating, annoying, loud, bad, etc... I was about to hit Mute on the remote until they finally had this guy stop.

After that disaster, we had Rebecca Garcia, another inbred, who reminded me of a duck. She destroyed a Carrie Underwood song and forgot the words even though she had a cheat sheet on her wrist. The judges thought she just wanted to get on TV as it was so bad and I was thinking the same until she started crying. So, she was either a good actress or she was really serious. I'm glad they offended her and made her cry to give her a reality check. I got one thing to tell you Rebecca, "Quack quack."

For some reason, we then get a montage of four decent singers that make it to Hollywood that we only see a few seconds of. Not sure why we don't see more of these people but we have to sit through Aaron Williamson and Rebecca Garcia.

Finally, the show ends with Leneshe Young. She was the young girl who grew up homeless with her mom and siblings. Yeah, she's got a nice backstory but this girl is totally this year's Paris Bennett less the squeaky voice. She sings an original song which was horrible even though she showed she has a decent voice. She didn't blow me away and she's my first big target of the season - I can't stand this Leneshe chick !

Well, that was it. Another pathetic night had come to an end. My favorites of the night were Joanna Pacitti, Brent Keith, Matt Giraud, and maybe I'll throw Alexis Grace in the mix.

So, only one more week to go until Hollywood week. Until then...Birdman Out.

San Francisco Auditions

2009-01-21T05:49:00.001-08:00

Well, it was Inauguration Day and everyone in the country was in good spirits; well, that is until you had to sit through the San Francisco auditions. Twelve people got through to Hollywood and they showed only 5 of them with 3 out of those 5 being in a montage so basically, we saw just two worthy candidates. I thought Idol was going to show us more good singers this year or were the producers just blowing smoke up our asses?

Here's how last nights shit show played out.

First up was Tatiana del Toro, aka #3325, from Puerto Rico to audition. For her sake, I hope she got cheap flights. First of all, she believes in psychics and hers friend who is one told her that she's a lock for the top 12. Wonder if she'll ever believe anything her friend "predicts" for her again. She enters the room in this outfit that is hard to explain. The bottom almost looks like a fairy dress that little kids wear when playing "dress-up." She starts out by giving the judges her press kit with a CD inside. This girl loves herself. She did a decent job singing an Aretha song but this girl was nauseating to me that her personality and appearance overshadowed her voice. After watching her audition, I had to suck on a Tums. And her laughing was beyond annoying; was she being tickled up her skirt?. She made it to Hollywood but I'd almost bet a testicle that she ain't going any further than that. I just found out that one of the Puerto Rican girls at work was embarrassed to be Puerto Rican after watching that audition.

After seeing a few brief seconds of train wrecks, we get to meet Dean-Anthony Bradford who comes out in this huge plaid coat. He looks like a cross between a Spanish Andrew Dice Clay as a werewolf combined with the caveman of the Geico commercials. He moaned some Simply Red song and I've sure we'll never see him again, knock on wood.

Up next was Jesus Valenzuela who actually is dressed decent and looks like a good guy. He has a decent voice even though he sung the sappiest song ever - "Unchained Melody". He needs some eyebrow plucking too. His kids were there with him so he got the benefit out the doubt and made it to Hollywood as I think they were getting desperate to get some people to Hollywood that will never make it.

Next we see Dalton Powell, the Rubik's Cube master. Actually, he was pretty impressive with cube but quite pathetic as a singer. He had such a high pitched voice, almost as if his penis was slammed in a car door and was in some major pain.

Akilah Askew-Gohlston was up next and she has dreams of becoming a gospel singer and studies by using biology diagrams. It doesn't help that she can't even pronounce half of the body parts correctly. She has these blonde braids and is shaped like a Weeble. The first line of her singing went "I want to make sweet love to you." GROSS ! Her voice was very crackly and I started to lose interest in her. It didn't help that the producers gave this moron about 10 minutes of air time. ENOUGH. She better have some other career aspirations or she's gonna have a long, long, long life.

Then, this is what bothered me. We see three good auditions - John Twiford, Allison Iraheta, and Raquel Houghton. Why didn't wee actually get to hear more than three seconds of their voice? Instead we had to sit through Akilah and the Bee.

Following that was Annie Murdoch. She's the dump blond who didn't even know what she was going to sing before entering the room. She looked like a drunk Courtney Thorne Smith and her voice was off-key. I almost got a Jujubee jammed in my throat when I heard her first lyric come out of her mouth. She was very clueless and indecisive. For her sake, she better marry rich because she's too dumb to secure a job.

Then came Adam Lambert who had a David Cookish kind of look to him. He also looked a bit like Jerry O'Connell dressed as Fall Out Boy. This guy had personality so you knew he was going to have decent pipes. He chose to sing "Bohemian Rhapsody" and did a great job. Yeah, I agree with Simon that it was a bit Broadway but I liked it. They'll fix him up a bit and little girls will love him. I think he is a lock to make the Top 5 and could even go further depending on how he chooses to portray himself - a rock star or a broadway star.

Finally, this boring show was going to end with Kai Kalama. When I first saw him, I thought - hmmmm...good looking terrorist. But, that turned around quickly when I heard him speak and found out that he takes care of his mom while playing music at night. I didn't love his song choice; a song from The Platters. I would have loved to have heard something more recent. However, he was GREAT and could easily be in the Top 12 as well.

So, the show ended on an upbeat note with Adam and Kai but the rest of the show was complete garbage. At least we are half way to the Hollywood round; only three more painful nights of auditions before things get interesting.

But until then...Birdman Out.

Kansas City Auditions

2009-01-15T05:40:00.001-08:00

Idol now moved on to Kansas City, hometown of last year's winner, David Cook. The odds of the winner coming from the same city two years in a row are as likely as the Jets even winning the Super Bowl. Still, let's see how it went down.

First up is Chelsea Marquardt. When she first came out, I thought she was a pretty blonde and was going to do great. Well, I guess that is why there's that old saying that you can't judge a book by its cover. She was painful. It was almost like hearing someone take a scissor and scratch it against a chalk board. She sounded a bit like a dying sheep.

Following that nightmare was Ashley Anderson who was auditioning with a Leona Lewis song which Simon Cowell was a writer for. Smart choice if she could pull it off. However this dope botched one of the first lyrics saying "footsteps" instead of "footprints". I guess it wasn't a smart song choice. However, she did managed to pull it together.

Then there was Casey Carlson.. He's a bubble tea maker. Yup...you heard me...bubble tea. Anyone ever hear of that before? She's a pretty, bubbly girl so I had high expectations based on initial appearance. She sings that Vanessa Carlton song, "A Thousand Miles." She had a decent voice but it didn't blow me away. She made it to Hollywood but will need to step it up a bit if she wants to make the top 36. Maybe she should get the judges drunk on bubble tea.

Brian Hetter was up next. He was that big guy with the beard, the Fonzie jacket, and the leotards under it. It was a bit too ballet goes goth for me. He's trained in opera so maybe he would be able to belt out something good. He attempts Aretha Franklin's "Think" and he should have thought about it before embarrassing himself. It was as if I was listening to a weird Elvis in a bad Vegas show. Then, he attempted Josh Groban and that turned out to be worse that Aretha. I think he needs career counseling.

Here was Von Smith coming out in his pimp hat. He has a weird song choice of "Over The Rainbow" which most guys would never attempt. I thought it started off a bit weak and then he kicked it up a notch. He made it to Hollywood but he should ditch the stupid hat.

Now came the most interesting part of the night, Jason Castro's brother, Michael. Jason was the pot smoking, laid back, dread locked dude last year. His brother is a complete 180. He's got short pink punk hair, much more feminine, and can actually sing. He's a bit too in the 80's looking like a backup singer with Flock of Seagulls but I actually liked it in a weird kind of way. He just started singing about a year ago and is much better than his brother could ever imagine.

Vaughn English was next and he came out in yellow and with a banana and sung a song about bananas. Not sure what the banana fetish was but I wouldn't want to be around him with a frozen banana.

Next up was Matt Breitzke who looked like a prison convict. He's actually a welder and definitely surprised me with his voice. He was smooth and edgy and could be one of the rockers to reckon with this season unless this audition was a fluke. But, I really liked this guy from the first note of "Ain't No Sunshine."

Following was Jasmine Joseph who does a rendition of "Over The Rainbow." She had this weird hat with skulls on it. She definitely lacked fashion, that's for sure. She was just scary with her red and blue hair...she looked like an army soldier with a flag on her head. He voice, well, if my feces could sing, Jasmine would lose out.

Then it was Jessica Paige Furney's turn to wow the judges. Right when they showed the cameras in her hometown, she was a shoe-in. She lives with her 93 year old granny. She sung Joplin's "Cry Baby" and nailed it. She was one of my favorite girls of the night.

But then it got a bit bizarre with Asia and India auditioning together. They came out with a horrific rap song together and JayZ must have been barfing if he had been listening. They then auditioned separate with Asia, the obese one, having as much talent as I to in my pinky toe. But, India actually did a good job. When they left the auditions, they were greeted by their family - China, Europe, and Zimbawbe.

Next up is Jamar Rogers a bartender, who sung "California Dreamin'" and made it his own. The problem I had with him is that I thought he looked a bit like Derek Jeter so watching Jeter sing songs came off as a bit weird for me but I liked this guy.

However, his best friend, Danny Gokey, stole the show. Right when they said he had lost his wife four weeks ago, I was praying that this guy could sing. Right when he belted "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", that was it. He was the best person we've heard so far this season. I'm not calling him the winner yet; but this guy, if he can hold his emotions together could easily make the TOP 5 if not win it all. Yup...he's really that good. Plus, he got the sympathy vote as well.

Then came Anoop Desai who was the second person to sing "Thank You" by Boyz II men. What stood out right away was his giant eyebrows which looked like two fuzzy caterpillars above his eyes but that didn't matter, those could always be thinned. Indians have not done well in the American Idol competition but this guy could be the first to make the Top 12 if the chips fall right.

After Andrew Lang and his cheerleaders failed miserably, out came Asa Barnes, the band director from Kansas City. He was definitely that Brandon Rogers from last season who squeaked into the Top 12. He sung a decent version of Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" I think Asa has talent but it could be tough for him to go into the Top 36 but he's on the bubble.

But things got quickly creepy when Michael Nicewonder came out. He looked like a stunt double for Jim Carey in "Dumb & Dumber." He won a medal for best vocals in elementary school music class. Wow...now that's an accomplishment. It turns out that he's related to Hank Williams Jr. If that's not true, Hank should immediately file a lawsuit. This dude looks like a slightly mental child molester that works in the stock room of a post office. I can't even remember what he sung but it wasn't pleasant.

Then came Dennis Brigham. He's a bit too perky for me with his backflips and bad dancing whole doing a Chris Brown song. The entire song was sun out his nostrils. I almost wished he had a cold as that would have at least been a good excuse for his lack of vocal skills.

Up next was Mia Conley, another local. She destroyed whatever song she was singing. She looked a bit like Trenyce' on acid. Maybe we'll see her again...on the blooper reel.

Finally, the show ended with Lil Rounds. She has an interesting name but a great voice. Randy compared her to Fantasia but this girl is a combination of Tamayra, Latoya, Vonzell and Jordan (Sparks). Look for Idol to fix up her image and glide into the Top 12. She could wind up being the strongest female in the competition.

So, that was Kansas City. My favorites were Matt Breitzke, Jessica Paige Furney, Danny Gokey, Asa Barnes, and Lil Rounds.

See ya next week.

Birdman Out.