American Idol Season 8's Second Group of Hopefuls Fail to Dazzle Judges

While the first batch of live performances for American Idol Season Eight was a biased mix of the stellar and horrid, the second group proved to be little more than mediocre, what Simon Cowell called hotel lounge performances. Simon struggled to find anybody "memorable" in the evening's performances and even Randy, Paula, and Kara seemed to agree with the dour Englishman in the gray tee-shirt. Not even the extra day of practicing due to President Obama's national address was enough to save the contestants from the wrath of the judges as the quartet called various contestants and their potshots at stardom "pitchy," "boring," and "too cool for school" ( and not in a good way.)

A few notable performances drew unique critiques from the judges including Megan Joy Corkrey's and Jeanine Vailes's. Vails, a 28 year old bartender from Washington, D.C. sang "This Love" by Maroon 5 but all she managed to get out of Randy, Simon, and Paula was that she had great legs. Though Kara DioGuardi refused to comment on her legs, she called the song overdone and said of Vails's performance that "everything about it was wrong."

While the judges were perhaps a little overly interested in Vails's body, they seemed not to notice Corkrey's at all as she jerked and twisted around the stage, swinging her arms back and forth seemingly at random. Indeed, all of the judges refused to give poor appraisals of her performance of Corrine Bailey Ray's hit "Put Your Records On," (with far too many of the lyrics actually spoken and not sung) and instead focused on Corkrey's marketability. Simon called her a "funny little thing" while Paula pronounced her "interesting," and "relevant." That just demonstrates that American Idol is in the business of making young people's dreams come true but it is in that business for the money it can make off these young folks, their voices, and their careers, and not for their personal benefit.

If you needed further proof, you need only look as far as their critique of Mishavonna Henson. While Simon told Henson her performance of "Drops of Jupiter" was technically right on, and said that she was "a good singer," all of the judges mentioned some facet of her being unexciting, old fashioned, or too tight on the stage. Pleading with America for a not-so-good singer to go through (as Simon did for Corkrey) seems a bit backward when you have a good singer in front of you but aren't willing to teach her how to let loose on the stage.

Another performance that actually garnered good reviews was that of Nick Mitchell/Norman Gentle, the twenty-seven year old with the self-imposed identity crisis. While he got through the auditions and Hollywood because the judges could actually here a decent voice hidden behind layers of his over-the-top Jim Carrey-esque tragic comedy, Mitchell failed to unleash those pipes and instead fell back into the comfort of his alter ego, Norman Gentle. Singing a song he made up as he went and pleading with America, the judges, the American Idol logo, and the stage on and around which he performed to keep him in the competition, Norman earned the coveted "one of the most entertaining performances ever" awards from Randi Jackson while Kara simply said that at least American would remember him. America remembers Sanjaya as well but he doesn't have a singing career, a record deal, or a new album coming out. I really don't know if that's what Nick/Norman was shooting for but a good portion of America is glad they won't have to see him perform again.

By far the best performance of the night came from one of the youngest competitors. Shy and reserved, unable to string a coherent sentence together in the Coca-Cola Red Room as Ryan Seacrest interviewed her before her performance, 16 year old Allison Iraheta "blew it out da box" (in the words of Randi Jackson) with her rendition of "Alone" by Heart. Her powerhouse voice with its unique grittiness is reminiscent of last season's Amanda Overmyer but the young girl clearly has greater tonal range and isn't afraid to demonstrate it. Though Simon called her performance in the Red Room boring, he emphatically agreed with Paula Abdul's assessment of her talent saying that she was "the best tonight by a clear mile."

These twelve potential Idols await the results of America's judging and twelve more are prepping to have their fifteen minutes of fame (or minute and a half by Idol rules) next week.