Who knew that you could bring Lady Gaga onto Idol and it would basically be forgotten? We ended up with an episode that caused the phrase “thrown under the bus” to fly around the Idolsphere and Twitter with such frequency, we ended up with a gigantic pileup. And rightfully so. It’s one thing to bus someone; sad as it is that’s part of the Idol experience. To do so so obviously and with so ineptly, well… no wonder people are unhappy.
I can’t say I was particularly thrilled by any of the “inspirational” songs. It produces trite song choices that usually backfire; and with one notable exception that was what happened here.
The best of the first round was Lauren. It was one of Lauren’s best performances this season. It was well sung, and it suited her quite well. Even then, however, it was just good. This is the top four. To have a good performance at this stage needs more than just singing well. It has to feel special. Lauren wasn’t able to do that. Still, given the messes that the rest made of the first round, I’ll give her some credit for executing well.
Next for me… Haley. I docked major points from James last week for getting carried away and letting the singing suffer. Something similar happened here. Haley got the emotion of the song right, but she did sound screamy in parts. It wasn’t particularly good, but not particularly awful either. The word I’d use is average.
The criticism, though… was woefully off-base. Song choice is critical for Haley, but I can see the logic to her pick. It’s very similar to the Lady Gaga pick last week: it gives her more room to play with the arrangement, and it minimizes comparisons to the original. Certainly, I’d prefer this kind of high-risk strategy to singing the same warmed-over material over and over again, which Jennifer would seem to prefer. As for Randy’s commentary, I will pretend it never happened. It was more of the same inanity with no point that he’s known for. I hear words that make sentences, but I see no meaning.
Scotty’s only 17, so I’ll give him some credit. I don’t think he was pandering. I think he legitimately meant well with his song choice. Would he have made it had Osama bin Laden not been killed so recently? I doubt it, but it wasn’t out of malice and pandering. The performance itself wasn’t so bad, but again: we’ve heard it so many times before. Of course you can sing well if you can only sing in such a limited way! This did nothing for me.
Worst of the first round: James. If you’re looking for pandering, singing a song of one of the judges definitely qualifies. It’s supposed to be an exciting song, but… it wasn’t. Fortunately, James is always a good enough performer to keep things entertaining. But fundamentally, this performance had a lot more sizzle than steak.
The second round was better, but not by a lot. Haley… we’ve seen pretend angry on the Idol stage before. Not this time. Haley was legit mad. The result… a vocal that was just a bit below House of the Rising Sun, but damn… it’s been a while since a performance that intense, that personal, has been on the Idol stage. That was the very definition of leaving it all out on the Idol stage. Easily the best song of the night. Well done Haley.
From then on, though… yikes. “Best” of the rest would be James Durbin, but honestly it was another performance with more entertainment and sizzle than, well, singing. Maybe at the tender age of 27 I’m an old-fashioned sort, but shouldn’t a singer actually be capable of… singing well? In the absence of props, choreography, and all that?
As for Lauren and Scotty… they both had cringe-worthy performances. The word is… awkward. The songs just did not fit the singers. Scotty was all over the place – literally and figuratively. Lauren again cribbed from the Carrie Underwood playbook… but that’s just not a comparison that favors her at all. Both of these performances were the musical equivalent of the five-year-old kid playing dressup. Given how yung Lauren and Scotty are, that’s not too far off either.
Overall, the music was mixed – some good performances, but an awful lot of recycled and humdrum ones. The “action” was dominated by what took place on the judge’s side of the table – again. Idolsphere to Nigel Lythgoe and 19E: this is what sunk recent Idol seasons. The clowns on the other side of the table took the spotlight away from the contestants. You’re back in charge, in large part, because of the disaster that resulted. Why are you letting this happen again?
Battle of the Faces: Quick question. Which was the better face of this week – Ryan’s when he heard Steven and Randy’s exchange over Haley’s first song, or Haley’s reaction to the blatant bus-throw, the “three-way tie”?
Talking back – why it might work this year: Normally, talking back to the judges is considered a death sentence on Idol. However, there’s one reason why I think this might not work this year: no Simon.
Rightly or wrongly, Simon Cowell had the one thing that any judge needs: credibility. Or, if you’d rather use a bigger word, gravitas. People took him seriously, even if they disagreed with what he said. When he bused someone, it was a believable bus. And it worked. (In later seasons, however, Simon lost credibility and his busing ability was not as reliable. Ask David Cook how effective Simon’s attempt to bus him in Season Seven went.)
This panel, though, has none of that. None. If they had just done their jobs at all earlier in the season, they’d have some credit with viewers if they said somebody sucked. They don’t. When it comes to criticizing the judges, after their utterly disgraceful performance last night, words fail me.
What are we to make of all the make-nice bits after Haley’s second performance? Somebody backstage realized that there are few things more powerful than a pissed off fanbase. All that does is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve. Haley fans were already unhappy and her hot run of late got her enough fans to boot her clear of the pimped Lauren. This is not a fanbase to take lightly; they’re energized in a way that we never saw last year.
Nigel Lythgoe already said via Twitter that the top four got 70 million votes. That’s basically double what last year’s top four got. Even if you ignore last year’s disaster, that’s still higher than the Season 8 top four show. It’s a fairly healthy increase from last week as well. How much of that came courtesy of Haley fans and people just plain angry at the blatant busing?
Expect the unexpected with tonight’s boot: Here’s a list of distinguished Idol alumni. Tamyra Gray. LaToya London. Chris Daughtry. Allison Iraheta. What do they have in common? They all left in fourth place even when other contestants were noticeably worse that week. You can’t rule out a shocker at this stage.
As I said above, I am unconvinced that the very mild backtalk – if we can even call it that – that we saw from Haley will hurt her. She sang I (Who Have Nothing) well enough to rule the night. For two-song nights, so long as you generally have one excellent performance people won’t care so much about a stinker (which, even by harsh standards, Earth Song wasn’t.) I think she’s safe.
After her, the next pick would be Lauren. But again, I’m unconvinced either: best song of the first round, plus a natural bounce from her bottom two appearance last week. If she had stumbled this week, sure. But she did what she had to do, and did it pretty well. And she goes home for that? Color me unconvinced.
If there’s going to be a shock boot, look towards James. He hasn’t done particularly well of late, but the judges aren’t calling him on it. It’s possible that could cause his fans to be complacent. Lauren’s fans will be out in force after her bottom two stint last week. Haley’s fans are angry and motivated. Scotty’s fanbase is bulletproof. Am I talking myself into a shock boot. Maybe. But it’s not implausible, isn’t it?
The shocker: James Durbin to go home.