American Idol Semi-Finals Shows a Slight Improvment with the Top 10 Men

In a very unprecedented move by American Idol they switched the lines ups. Normally on Tuesday nights, during the semi-finals, it would be the ladies performing. Instead as one contestant stated to Ryan they all got an important text Tuesday morning to come to rehearsals pronto. They will be performing instead of the ladies. One of the female contestants, Crystal Bowersox, was taken to the hospital on Tuesday morning. Under her doctor's orders she would not perform until Wednesday night. It was going to be interesting to see how the men performed with very little notice and be at a slight disadvantage, considering many of the debacle performances from last week. To my amazement it was an improvement, especially from Ellen. At least she was cracking a few more jokes, even if they weren't so funny at times she was definitely more relaxed. Good for her. However, some of the men improved while others backslided. I'll highlight what I felt were the disappointments, the bad, the "I don't get it" and the good.

The Disappointments

It must be hard to have so many expectations thrust upon you. Not everybody is going to deliver stellar performances every week. Not even the greatest pop stars manage to have hit songs with every album release. I certainly understand that, however, this is a competition show above all else. You need to deliver the goods. That is what the television audience is expecting. If you can't handle the heat get out of the kitchen. First up on my list was Andrew Garcia. His version of You Give Me Something by James Morrison was quite simply uncomfortable, out of tune, and out of breath. Yet he sat on a stool the whole time.

He had no stage presence and looked nervous at times. I understand the nerves from last week, but this week he performed without his guitar, so that explained it. Of course the judges still talked about his breakout performance of Andrew's acoustic version of Paula Abdul's Straight Up. That was so last month and from the audition rounds in Hollywood no less. I think the pressure of living up to that has affected Andrew Garcia in the semi-finals. Aaron Kelly, whom I thought gave one of the better performances last week, was not as impressive this week. His rendition of The Temptations classic My Girl was really good at first until he hit a bummed note that more or less tanked the rest of his performance. I agreed when Simon said it was old-fashion. Last week he sang a current country song that was well suited for him. He needs to stick to current artists and their songs.

The Bad

I'll try not to spend a lot of time with this one, because a lot of people online, bloggers, and music journalists think all of the men on American Idol are awful this year. That's the way it goes sometimes. Some years they are good and some years they are not very good. I know John Park is trying, but that may be his problem. He is trying too hard, and it's affecting his performances from last week and this week. Park sang Gravity by John Mayer, and it about put me to sleep. He was pitchy, boring, and not believable just like what the judges were saying too. If I or anyone ever needs a sleeping aid just listen to his performances. However, taking a stellar protest anthem song that has relevance today and botching it up is unconscionable. Jermaine Sellers still doesn't get it from his horrible performance last week. During his rendition of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On it was excruciating as ever. He tried to mimic Marvin's unique runs and failed. Once again he was out of tune and off-key all over the place.

I Don't Get It?

There are two male contestants I do not get why certain judges fancy them to the point of "in your face" or "I am the voice of reasoning and you better listen to me." That is one of the things I loathe the most about American Idol. They latch on to a contestant and promote and pimp them with brainwashing techniques or whatever methods for us to love them. They've done that successfully with past contestants, but hopefully not this time. Please tell me what is the appeal with Lee Dewyze.? He seems nice, and I'm sure he is. I like that he's from Chicago, but I resent Simon's love for him. Quite frankly, I find Lee to be one of the most boring contestants ever on American Idol.

Yes, I like his singing voice, but not that much. His performance last night of Lips of an Angel by Hinder was filled with nerves, stiffness, and annoying little habits like pulling up his pants. I like the raspy sound of his voice, but he sounded like he needed to clear it at times. It was not one of his better performances and definitely not worthy of being the best vocally. Kara's fantasy contestant Casey James sang the worst version of I Don't Want to Be by Gavin DeGraw I have heard on Idol. It did not live up to the other versions, especially from Bo Bice. Yes, he can definitely play the electric guitar. However, I think that is Casey's stronger suit. He played too much of the guitar and not enough vocals. Thankfully Kara came down from her cloud nine love-in for Casey to give him a harsh critique. It's about time, because I don't get the Casey James love fest at all.

The Good or Should I Say Improved

Once again there were no outstanding performances, yet there were three that improved greatly from last week. Michael Lynche started off the night on the right foot with James Brown's It's a Man's World. Like Simon stated in his critique he made the song current. Of course James Brown gives it all he's got in his own version, though it isn't a recognizable song where a lot of expectation is placed upon it. Lynche gave it his own unique touch. This was absolutely a vast improvement from the Maroon 5 song that seemed out of his element.

Next was Tim Urban who brilliantly improved by leaps and bounds with his song choice of Matt Nathanson's Come On Get Higher and performance. He reminds me so much of those 60s groups with the band members wearing their hair exactly like Tim's. It's like he is a throwback from the British invasion of music days. I really liked his introduction piece. His post performance banter with Ryan shows him as being very humble, relaxed, and soft-spoken. Lastly, the only one who had a very good performance was Alex Lambert. He is another one who vastly improved from last week, especially his stage presence. Even though he was playing the guitar and sitting on a stool Alex managed to work it out with his facial expressions and a little smile in his voice wth Everybody Knows by John Legend. Speaking of which, I still think he has the best vocals out of all the men.

It was certainly refreshing and a relief to see much improvement made from the men's group during these semi-finals. I'm also glad they stuck with the same theme of selecting songs from the Billboard charts. At least most of the contestants chose current songs while others picked a few oldies. Hopefully, they can kick it up a notch even further. Now the guys can sit back and relax, because all of their performances are over for the week. You all survived it, but then there is next week.

SOURCES:

http://www.americanidol.com/

http://www.votefortheworst.com/