AIIX recap, Semi-finalists x 12, Guys (02/24/10)

So the first week is always one of the toughest. A lot of things in motion here. Some have to knock it out of the box early since they may not have a following from the auditions/Hollywood. Others may have unrealistic expectations based on highlights from Hollywood/auditions. And others may get jitters singing in front of such a large audience, both live and on TV. But what also gets me is the song choices. They are not “handcuffed” by a theme, but there are always questionable choices. And the catalog of songs available to them is not an open book either.

And other than the sheer volume of singers early on, these recaps are easier at the beginning than the end. I can come up with look alikes and first impressions right now, but I run out of material as the season goes on. My wife Kristin noticed from last night’s recap that my heart was back in it by the quality of my prose. Or she’s just saying that because she’s my wife and we’ll be married 10 years next month and knows how fragile my psyche is… 

01 – Todrick Hall, 24 (Arlington, TX); Since U Been Gone (Kelly Clarkson)
I always think it’s weird when a contestant sings a song from a previous American Idol. It’s like those Scream movies when they had the movie (Stab), which was within the movie. Todrick looked like he could be in my all-time favorite group growing up, New Edition. Was that Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky or Mike? Or Ralph? Todrick has a nice singing voice, but this was a funky arrangement and he danced around way too much. It bothered me, but I still think he’ll do better if he advances. Randy didn’t like it that the song didn’t sound like the original at all. He said you can’t take a song and obliterate it. Kara thought he is a strong enough singer that he didn’t have to do that much with the arrangement. Simon was the cruelest of all. Said he came off as a dancer trying to sing, that he murdered the original and it was verging on stupid. It was a rough start to the night, but it will get worse…

02 – Aaron Kelly, 16 (Sonestown, PA); Here Comes Goodbye (Rascal Flatts)
Some of you TAPers will get this. I think the lead singer of Rascal Flatts looks like David Jaekel. Aaron started out a bit shaky, as you could tell he was nervous. But he did get better as the song went along. My wife Kristin and son thought he should sing Miley Cyrus’ song “The Climb.” At first I thought that Aaron looked like an old actor named David Patrick Kelly who was in a bad movie with Dennis Quaid back in the ‘80s called “Dreamscape.” The premise of the movie as that this guy (David Patrick Kelly) could enter someone’s dreams and manipulate them. And if he killed you in your dream, you’d die in real life. I don’t know why I saw that movie or remember it so vividly, but I do. And I must’ve only been 13 or 14 when I saw it. What kind of movies did my parents allow me to watch?! Back to Aaron now. Upon further review, I think he looks a bit like Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense kid). Simon thought he gave a good performance, but noted that he looked embarrassed to be there and not confident. Kara said he’s her favorite type of contestant; one that doesn’t have any idea how good he is. I think Aaron will be safe for awhile. Good voice, cute kid and Seacrest will keep him around because he’s finally bigger than someone.

03 – Jermaine Sellers, 27 (Joliet, IL); Get Here (Oleta Adams)
What’s with the guys singing chick’s songs? I haven’t watched last week’s Hollywood stuff yet, but I guess Jermaine walked off the stage because the band got his arrangement wrong? I wasn’t a fan of his (or his neck tat). His facial ticks were annoying and he felt way overconfident up there. Does look a bit like Will Smith though. But that won’t save him for me. Ellen thought it felt like a performance instead of him feeling the song. Randy thought he tried to do too much with the song. Kara thought it felt old and that his runs weren’t meaningful. Simon called his oversinging screaming and thought he blew it. This guy could go anytime and I’d be fine with it.

04 – Tim Urban, 20 (Duncanville, TX); Apologize (OneRepublic)
My wife Kristin had the call of the night. Tim looks like Michael J. Fox. Great call on her part. I was thinking the guy from that show “Chuck,” but I think the eyes were definitely Alex P. Keaton. This was a rough song for Tim, as his high register didn’t come close to being what it needed to be for this song. Simon said they made the right decision to cut him the first time (evidently, he was cut, then they lost a finalist and called him back). Kara said the music overpowered him. Randy said it was the wrong song, as he didn’t have the falsetto to sing it. Ellen called him adorable like 10 times. He might make it through on the pity/adorable vote alone, but he doesn’t deserve to. This was horrible.

05 – Joe Munoz, 20 (Huntington Park, CA) You and I Both (Jason Mraz)
My call of the night is that Joe looks like a cross between former Idol contestants Anoop Desai and David Archuleta. I’m VERY proud of that one. I was so proud of that that I really didn’t listen to the song much. He sounded smooth and looked comfortable on the stage (even Ellen echoed that). Randy didn’t think it was the perfect song choice, but that he worked it out. Kara said it was the best so far, but she admitted that wasn’t saying much. Simon called it safe and said he wouldn’t be able to sell records around the world. I’ll bet he’d do okay south of the border though. Joe should be safe tomorrow night.

06 – Tyler Grady, 20 (Nazareth, PA); American Woman (Guess Who/Lenny Kravitz)
My wife Kristin wished his last name was Brady, as he could’ve passed for Greg Brady/Johnny Bravo’s brother. But as I kept looking at Tyler, I kept asking myself, “Tyler, why the long face?” Did you see that Leno chin on him? This poor kid is stuck in the ‘70s. As a matter of fact, if you combined Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher on “That ‘70s Show,” you’d come out with Tyler Grady. I was too caught up in laughing at this throwback of a kid that I really didn’t listen to him to much. I did think he screamed too much though. Simon thought it was memorable in a bad way. He called it clichéd and thought he went to “pretend to be a rock star” school. Kara thought he needed more than just the schtick. Randy called it style over substance. Ellen thought he lacked charisma. But he took his criticism well. I hope he makes it through so that I can make fun of him more.

07 – Lee DeWyze, 23 (Chicago, IL); Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol)
My wife Kristin thought he was flat in parts and he definitely sang too close to the mike. Do they change the mikes between singers? Is that a health code violation? She did say he has a nice tone to his voice though. I thought he looked a bit like Tim Tebow. And an interesting side note that my Auntie made me aware of is that TV Guide is reporting that semi-finalist Janell Wheeler (the wine sales gal) is an ex-girlfriend of Tim Tebow’s. That little nugget will go a long way for me! Ellen called it a good song choice, but that he was straining. Randy didn’t like it. Kara said the song had a small range and that when he tried to expand the range to change it up, it made the song unrecognizable. Simon called him a naturally good singer. And going back to Lee. Is DeWyze a made up name? Is it shortened? Moderately bothers me.

08 – John Park, 21 (Northbrook, IL); God Bless the Child (jazz standard)
I think I went to college with him. Or someone that looked like him. I wish his name was John Kim, which would’ve been more stereotypical, although John Park is pretty run of the mill too. Steve Chen is another common name. My wife Kristin and I have separate Steve Chens as friends. John looks like he’s straight out of a Korean drama. Especially that hairdo. Most of you are aware that my in-laws LOVE them some Korean dramas. I succumbed to the peer pressure and watched a drama (Boys Before Flowers) with my wife Kristin over Christmas break. I must say it was pretty good, but with all the TV we watch normally, I can’t watch those too often. Christmas break was perfect because all our shows were in repeats and our companies shut down between Christmas and New Year’s. We have the dramas on DVD, so you can watch them as long as you can stay awake (you don’t have to watch week to week if it was live). One good thing about the Korean dramas is that my in-laws also like to eat Korean food now. We go to a place called “Omogari,” which oddly enough, is located in San Jose’s Japantown (on 4th and Jackson). Nice family run place. Back to John. I thought the mike was too low and I couldn’t hear him very well. It was an odd song choice right out of the box for him. I hope he sticks around a few weeks though. Simon thought it was flat and had no emotion. Kara called it lounge-y. Randy thought it was too old. Ellen wished he had sung a different song. Given the other catastrophes tonight, John should be safe tomorrow night. I hope. And Shania Twain hopes so too.

09 – Michael Lynche, 26 (St. Petersburg, FL, but the AI site says Astoria, NY); This Love (Maroon 5)
My wife Kristin thought he had a real Nell Carter sound to him. I thought it was okay, but his version paled in comparison to the original. Don’t tell Michael that though. This big man doesn’t take criticism very well. I don’t mind being confident and happy with your song, but he crosses the line. I liked his personality from the auditions and the first part of Hollywood though. He’ll be through to next week for sure. I hope he picks a better song next week. Ellen said he has so much personality, but had a few pitch problems. Kara said he wasn’t outrageously great, but was better than the others (it’s been a dreadful night). Simon said he delivered small and there was nothing unique about it. He didn’t take that well and turned me off a bit, but I’ll get over it. And Michael looks like your run of the mill NFL nose tackle. I wonder if he’s going to the combines this week…

10 – Alex Lambert, 19 (North Richland Hills, TX); What A Wonderful World (James Morrison)
Wow. Nice mullet. My wife Kristin said he looked like Miley Cyrus’ brother, Jackson, on “Hannah Montana.” Another nice call. She was on fire tonight. I don’t know this song, but the way Alex sang it was horrible. It was uncomfortable. Reminded me of Rain Man when they were in the suits playing blackjack in Vegas. Simon called it the most uncomfortable performance of the night. Kara wanted to give him a hug and said he has great potential. Ellen finally says something funny (WHICH IS WHY SHE’S THERE), as she said she supports his decision to retain his mullet. Glad she mentioned the elephant in the room! I’ve been reading and Alex really has the least amount of experience in front of a camera than all the other contestants. That would explain his staring into the cameras and his trying to put his feet in the correct position on the stage. I think he was more conscious of that than in the actual singing of his song. Maybe if he could just sit and sing it might be easier for him. But I think he goes tomorrow. Poor kid.

11 – Casey James, 27 (Fort Worth, TX); Heaven (Bryan Adams)
When my daughter Kacey hears of another person with her same name, she wants to figure out how it’s spelled. We spelled hers a little differently. She’ll never get to buy anything with her name on it that is pre-done. While we were in Hawaii, we got her a little bracelet that was personalized while you wait so that she could have something with her name on it that was spelled like we spell it. I guess this guy is pretty hot? He reminds me of Bucky Covington, but better looking. My wife Kristin said that he’s got to be pretty good looking to pull that hairdo off. Evidently Kara is gaga over him. I’m glad he did well with the song because the judges were making a commotion while he was singing that could’ve distracted him. How old is Bryan Adams now? He’s like Canada’s favorite son though. I heard him sing at the opening of the Winter Olympics (not live, but on TV). And he was the opening act at that GM Place in Vancouver when it opened up in the late ‘90s. Remember that old show on MTV called “Remote Control,” with Ken Ober as the host and Kari Wuhrer as the hostess and Colin Quinn as the sidekick? I remember they had a category called “Dead, Alive or Canadian.” I always thought that show was pretty witty. I don’t know why, but Casey reminds me of the character (Lars) in the movie “Serendipity,” that starred John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. John Corbett played Lars and Casey doesn’t look like him, but the long hair and such made me think of him. Anyway, Casey was good, although my wife Kristin mentioned he had a quick vibrato, which is odd in a guy. One of the other AI contestants that had a quick vibrato was Carmen Rasmussen from Season 2 (wow that was long ago). Kara made a big production out of Casey but finally said he’s eye candy, but also ear candy. Ellen said she could feel Kara undressing him with her eyes (she made another funny. Finally!). Randy called it a great song choice. Simon called him very honest and likeable. And called Kara a Cougar. Nice. Casey is going to go far in this competition. Seacrest finally made a funny too. He quipped that results would be on Thursday and there would be HR meetings on Friday. Seriously, that was the first witty thing I’ve heard him say in 9 years.

12 – Andrew Garcia, 24 (Moreno Valley, CA); Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down (Fall Out Boy)
Andrew’s famous for changing up Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up” during Hollywood week. We’re reminded that he’s a stay at home dad (who’s watching the kid now?!). Interesting neck tat and I think he looks like Donkey Kong. And doesn’t he look older than 24? I thought the arrangement was interesting. He’s going to do something like this every week. Sometimes he’ll hit it out of the park. Other times he’ll leave you scratching your head. I like him though. Simon was disappointed. Called it too serious and indulgent. Kara thought he took a risk. Randy called the arrangement strange. This guy is going to be fine tomorrow and he’ll be in the top 12 for sure.

I really don’t know who is going home tomorrow night. If I had to guess, I’d say Lacey Brown and Haeley Vaughn for the gals and Tim Urban and Alex Lambert for the guys.

And as always, part of the fun in me writing these is receiving your comments back…