Jynnan tonnix

I almost didn't watch this because of the "shock boot" rumors. I figured that neither Caleb nor Jena were going to be anywhere near bottom 2, and that CJ (because it was, frankly, his time) and Jessica (because of the way the judges have been critiquing her) would not be classified as "shocks", which left Sam & Alex, who have become my favorites this season, and I didn't want to see either leave. I'm happy with the way it panned out. CJ has his strengths, but since actually staying in tune should be a pretty basic requirement for a singing competition, his outlasting anyone else at this point would have been unfair. I like him and wish him the best. Maybe he can overcome his pitch issues, in which case he could have a solid career, but for this particular time and place, his elimination was the right choice. Having Sam & Alex stay pleases me because, first, Sam is showing improvement from week to week, and that's always interesting to watch even if it doesn't actually progress to the point of providing a viable "idol" before the time runs out. And, second, Alex has, to my ears, given more "moments" to the season than anyone else. They may be pretty small and subtle "moments", but moments nonetheless. His choices of chord structures within otherwise low-key arrangements have given them a hint of freshness and originality which really speaks of his musical sensibilities, and I find that impressive.

Having spent the past 30 years as a military wife, I've had my share of moving around and making homes of various sizes and styles work. In our case, the "entertainment" and "guest" spaces are a must, as we do have family members visit for a week or two at a time, and frequently host formal dinners for 8-10 people as well as more informal functions for upward of 40. And I love to cook, so it would be really nice to eventually have a professional stove, but that hasn't happened yet, and likely will not. At least not until after we are retired and no longer need it as much. Ah, well... When we buy a house (as opposed to renting or living on base), we generally look for something which is priced under market and needs a bunch of cosmetics and elbow grease which will enable us to hopefully come out ahead, or at least not to lose money on the deal, and shows like this can be pretty useful for keeping up with trends. I guess the annoying part is that so many of the trends seem to be manufactured. When people whine about things in a 10 year old house being too dated to endure, I suspect much of that is scripted to allow a faster turn-over of styles, ensuring that the new home-owner will want to rip out whatever tile/carpet/fixtures/cabinetry is considered unretrieveably passe and redo everything rather than living with it.

Caleb could have done a lot to win the season based on his first performance if he had done a country ballad (assuming he could have sold it, which I do think he is capable of) for his second. As it stood, it was just a let-down. Neither of Jena's songs grabbed me, and where I was (albeit somewhat grudgingly) ready to count her as a shoo in for top 2 the last couple of weeks, this was a bit of a step down. Sam did well with both numbers. Not stellar, but I think he bought himself another week. The second number in particular was a really good fit for him, and he came closer than I've seen him yet to really sounding like an entertainer. Jessica nailed the first song vocally, and was pretty good on the second, but she still fails to move me. I wonder whether she might have seen fit to invest in some botox pre-competition...Nothing above the eyebrows ever seemsto move, and it gives her a very blank affect. Both CJ's songs were all sorts of out of tune, and neither was compelling enough to stand alone without a good vocal. He really has reached the end of the road moreso than anyone else this season to my ears. Alex's first was OK...not his style, but not completely painful. His second was almost a revelation. If I hadn't already been really won over by his reworking of "every breath you take" a couple of weeks ago, this would have definitely put me in his camp. He may not win, given his somewhat awkward demeanor, but he's the artist of the season

Yes, I could see where Sam would most probably top out in fifth place, but if he were to outlast CJ and Jess, which is possible if he continues to improve (which, to my perception, anyway, he has been, even though it is admittedly slight), that would put him in 4th, and also give him 3 more performances to continue on the redemption arc that AI viewers love so much. At that point, it would be conceivable that if Caleb continues on his fairly one-dimensional trajectory he might begin to slip in votes enough that Sam's underdog status could put him ahead. I think Jena and Alex would be safe as they always put their personal stamp on things, which, even if it might result in the occasional misstep, still makes one wonder what they might come up with next. I think Caleb comes across as coasting a bit, which can be deadly at this point in the competition. Sam won't win, but I can see him squeaking into third place, which I would actually like to see.

I'm fine with Dexter leaving. He has been on my personal "should go" list for the past few weeks, but I figured that the good ol' boy country voting bloc would keep him around for a while longer. Technically, I suppose that Jessica should have been the one leaving, but the busing was so blatant that I'm kind of glad to see that it backfired on them, at least a little bit. She was nowhere near as bad as they made her out to be last night, but yet she sort of brings, on the average, less to the competition more consistently, if that makes sense. Some of the others have certainly had worse performances than she has, yet they have also had weeks where they redeemed themselves, while she has maintained a pretty consistent level of mediocrity. I suspect that if they had not tried so hard to back the bus over her last night she would have naturally fallen to last place. But between feeling a certain gratification at the failure of the blatant manipulation and getting Dexter's face off my tee-vee, I'm happy with the result.

Overall, I must say that I'm finally warming up a bit to the remaining contestants, even though the top 12 seemed to be the "worst ever". While we don't have anyone with true star power, I do think there are a few who have the potential to make a decent name for themselves down the line. On to specifics...Jessica and the bus...Yes, they are definitely being unreasonably harsh on her performances. She's not my favorite, but has a voice which can be very effective within her wheelhouse, and while she doesn't quite have the performance skills down, it seems she would be very recordable. Last night's performance seemed among her better ones, and I did like her interaction with the band members. She seems far less stiff when she is able to play off someone else, even just an instrumentalist, than just singing alone, and for this reason I also thought she shone in the trio, even though it was a mess throughout much of it, there was a spot toward the middle where the voices seemed to really mesh well, with hers as the highlight. Jena...Agree with Harry that she is definitely a huge talent, and while I don't necessarily like her style, she has such confidence in her reworkings of the material that, especially at the piano, she seems like an established "star" (for want of a better word). That being said, I didn't care for what she did with "Creep". It's a great song, but, as someone said upthread, her performance lacked the emotional subtlety necessary to really pull it off. You can't capture self-loathing with such a grandstand performance. Too much of it was done in the screaming register (which should, ideally, be just a crescendo within the bridge). The brooding quality was lost almost completely. It was actually a very good performance, just not of that particular song. I also pretty much hated her duet with Caleb, though I've never been a fan of the Rolling Stones, and especially of that screaming-at-each-other style. Not a "moment" at all in my book. Caleb. Good, but nothing we have not seen from him before. It's all retread at this point, and I just don't see the authenticity in him. Sam...Looked as though he was really beginning to grasp the basics of connection. Baby steps. He definitely has a lot of potential, and while I don't think he will win, I think there is every chance of him pulling a third place finish. Even second, if there is a shock boot or two along the way, which, with this bunch, there could be. I really enjoyed his duet with Alex, though I don't know the original song, but their voices blend really well together, and I thought they captured the vibe of just chilling and jamming with it. It doesn't need to be exciting as far as I'm concerned. Alex...also a very talented kid. His phrasing and musicality are actually way beyond a large proportion of Idols of previous seasons, and it's too bad that he's so un-telegenic. A lot of that is actually his unease in front of a camera, though. Even though his features are pretty awkward, it can occasionally translate into an endearing sort of look when he's captured unaware of a camera being on him. If he could overcome that, and maybe lose some weight (unfortunately, though he's no more overweight than, say, Caleb, it really shows in his face, and I think if he lost just a few pounds, it might dramatically change his looks), he would probably come across as much more marketable, and he'd have a pretty decent shot at an extended post-Idol career. His performance last night, while still not anything like a departure from what he's been doing all season, was very listenable, and I agree that it's refreshing to hear something unplugged and intimate where almost everyone else is competing with bandzilla to the point that it's hard to gauge the quality of the actual vocals. Dexter. Same old-same old. He does what he does reasonable well, but if this song was "darker" than the ones he typically does, I couldn't tell, since the lyrics were unintelligible, but the style more or less identical to everything else we've heard from him. CJ...Very heartfelt, and mostly on-key performance. I can't say I'd buy his album, but I can't dislike him. Even when he's horribly off pitch, the quality of his voice is kind of compelling, and with a good performance this time around, he's definitely bought himself another week. Hard to say who will go home this week. I'd say Jessica is likely if the busing served its purpose and if she doesn't have enough of a fan base dedicated to saving her. In any case, I think she and Dexter should be in the bottom two simply because they have less innate musicality than the others. Even CJ with his chronic inability to sing on key has music wired into his spirit in a way I don't see with Jess or Dexter.

Another "old lady" here. Being as how half the contestants this year are younger than my youngest child, I'm not even going to go there as far as calling anyone a "crush". And Harry & Keith are so much more as far as eye candy than anyone else on stage any way. I could go back to past seasons as well, though. Was an honest-to-goodness "Claymate" back in the day, and really loved David Cook in his season. Plus I had a bit of a thing for Bucky Covington (anyone remember him?) back in whatever season that was.

Loved, Loved seeing David Cook again, and he really gave the kids some seriously good feedback and suggestions. They can keep him as mentor forever. As far as the contestants, I think Alex owned the evening. I wasn't sure what to expect of his arrangement based on the little snippet heard during the segment w/ David Cook, but I thought what he did was incredible. I don't know that he even knew exactly what he brought to it, but whereas Sting's version (which I adore) DOES have that menacing undertone, Alex's was a little bit more sort of lost...not so much "you belong to me and I won't let you out of my sight" as "I belong to you and I don't know how to let go". There was something just a little bit plaintive which I never would have thought could fit in that song, but he made it work. Sam was surprisingly good as well...He still needs to connect, but I think they almost kind of sabotaged that, in a way, by surrounding him with all those girls right in his face. If he is going to learn how to pick someone in the crowd and make eye contact, I would think baby steps wherein all he needs to do is pick a random face and focus on it for a moment would be easier than having him pick one out of a dozen and sing directly to her. But his musicality and even a bit of feeling did come through, and while I still don't think he's got it in him to win, I am sort of glad they saved him as he does have the potential to give them a really good redemption arc for however long he stays if he keeps taking all the advice to heart. Caleb sounded fine, but he lost me more with his attitude this time than he ever has before. I've been giving him the benefit of the doubt because I really do like his voice, but between the "making old ladies cry" comment before his song, and "just give them the baby face" after (when Ryan asked him about what seemed as though it might be an actual emotion coming through during his song), I am just finally chalking him up as a poser with no actual heart behind his performances. Sorry, Caleb. Jena might have have been on to something with her arrangement. I didn't hate it, and do appreciate her efforts, but the balance was SO off that her vocals were all but completely buried. Jessica's voice sounded good on her song, but I really agreed with J Lo (what a concept!) about the fact that if she can't take a song like that and bring the sexy, then no matter how good her voice sounds, it's not the right song for her to sing. I think she does have a personality in there somewhere, but for whatever reason, it just gets totally lost when she is performing. There's just no spark there. Which is a pity, as her voice is among the more engaging this season. Bandzilla totally buried Malaya as well...no idea what she sounded like. It was probably reasonably good. Hated Dexter, and liked CJ to a point, but his inability to sing in tune is really going to bite him in the butt soon.