American Idol: Week 1

I have been a huge fan of American Idol for a few years now. This show is where I release the inner critic and make myself a lot easier to get along with when it comes to discussing music. Anyone remember when I was a complete jackass about it? I do. Well American Idol has become a weekly therapy session in my ongoing fight against railing on people's musical choices. Now I get to rail on the contestants for THEIR musical choices. It's no coincidence that Constantine was voted off after doing a Nickelback song. Where is he now? See my point? :)

This year started out rough. We endured what seemed like 40 weeks of auditions. I think they added a week over the last few years and if I am being honest (credit: Simon Cowell), it sucked. I was happy we moved to the top 24. Its really hard, with the way the show is edited, to remember some of the auditions of the people in the top 24, so I am usually not as skeptical until we see them start performing. Here is my feelings and thoughts on Week 1 of the top 24 and on who I think should go home.

The Guys:

The guys were overall weak. Danny Noriega is so feminine (read gay) that he should not even perform with the guys. He destroyed an Elvis song. I pick him as Sanjaya of the year. He will annoy me for a while, I feel it. Many of the guys just picked bad songs for them. But its 60's week and its hard to do a 60's song any justice nowadays. None of these guys know what to choose or to sing or even how to sing most of the songs in the 60's. So you end up with slow, ballady crap. The highlights for me were Michael Johns, David Cook and Jason Castro (Dreads Boy). In a tough week to pick songs, these guys picked songs that they could perform and would relate. The middle of the pack was not that great. David Archuletta, who seems to be the judges pet, was average at best. We know he has a great voice, but that song was horrible for him. To hear the judges talk him up really put me off. I have to dislike him now. The rest were not even mentionable for the most part. However, here are the 2 I see going home. The main reason is that I could not even remember their names this morning to type this. That's a bad sign.

Jason was horrible and should have been shuffled off the stage before the chorus began. Luke was completely forgettable and to say he has a "Kenny Loggins" quality to his voice is insulting to fans of "Dangerzone".

The Girls:

The girls started out worse than the guys, IMHO. It was a dreadful night last night with a few good moments. It amazes me to see that this year they have allowed people with previous recording experience to go this far and those are the people who are just not performing. Kristy Lee Cook was horrid and Irish Girl (Carly Smithson) was nowhere near the praise she was given by Randy and The Drunk. Simon was spot on. Stand outs for me were Syesha Mercado and Brooke White. The others were mostly forgettable for me. I will mention this...Amanda Overmyer is getting old quick. We have heard the same voice sing different songs and to be honest it sounds like someone is taking Michael W Smith and putting his voice through a blender before spitting something out that is close to the tune of a song. I hate her voice and I hate that we have to put up with her doing song after song in that same tired Janis Joplin impersonation. Here are your bottom 2:

Joanne was my choice because I just don't think her "okay" version of a great song will translate to votes. I love that song, but it just wasn't great. Amy was horrid and should have been cut on the spot.


There are my thoughts. I will try to make picks every week based on my opinion of the goings on. I don't have a favorite yet for the entire competition, but I will about the time of the top 12. We will get to that in a couple weeks.

I thought Sanjaya's sister was hotter than this. I guess she let herself go.