8) Heather Cox--"When You Tell Me That You Love Me"
This song was like a Tylenol P.M. Nice voice, but so what? You want her to spice it up, you hope she does, by you know she never will. So we'll suffer for a few weeks, watching her flounder around and hoping she can pull it together because it just seems like she could...but she never will. And the minute she's cut we won't care.

Who was next? Kinnik Skye or Melissa McGhee? I'll go with Kinnik--

9) Kinnik Skye--"Get Here"
Sounded exactly like Oleta Adams. Otherwise known as "Trenyce 2.0."

10) Melissa McGhee--"When The Lights Go Down"
I hope Melissa makes it to the Top 12. Not that she'll win. But if she makes it to Top 12, she can pull a Kimberly Locke: establish a small but devoted fan base, get a recording deal with a small but respected label, and have a lovely and lucrative career in adult contemporary, leaving Idolmania in the past. She and Taylor Hicks should do a duet. We likey.

And, like Taylor, she needs some help from the Idol stylists. She wears too much makeup and needs to go back to blonde.

11) Lisa Tucker--"I Am Changing"
I bet Lisa uses that song as her audition for all her high school musicals. It was good, and fun, but so...safe. Everyone loves her right now, but she really, really needs to step out of her comfort zone and wow us with something totally unexpected, if she wants anyone to take her seriously later on down the road. And she can do it, she's fantastic. But does she have the guts? We'll see. I say she is the first "shocker" elimination, about halfway through the finals.

12) Katherine McPhee--"Since I Fell For You"
I love that Katherine sang a Barbra Streisand song, and actually pulled it off. I love that she batted her eyelashes at the camera the whole time. And I love that at the end of the day, she's just a giggly girl who's having the time of her life. She can sing, and she's fun. Perfect.

...tick tock tick tock...

Los Hombres

First to sing: Patrick Hall--"Come To My Window"
Cute pop voice and medium emotional investment, which is jarring with this song, since Melissa Etheridge screamed it like she was singing for her life. Why is it that when I watch him sing, I think of Eeyore from Winnie The Pooh? His personality reminds me of Eeyore. Not his voice, his voice is good. But his eyes seem like they're just waiting for the bad news to come at any moment. Just like Tyra said to Gisele on Season 1 of America's Next Top Model: "If you don't believe you're fierce, we won't believe it either." Mandisa and Paris Bennett believe they're fierce, Patrick. Why don't you?

2) David Radford--"Crazy Little Thing Called Love"

I totally jazzed on his vibe. Not that his "cute-guy-turned-lounge-singer" thing has any future in this contest, other than going on the "American Idol Tour" if he accidentally makes it to the Top 12. Because seriously, David isn't exactly Michael Buble'. It's piano bars and steakhouses for him once this show is over. But tonight, I liked him, he sang great. He just makes me nervous; I don't want him to be on the show long enough for people to start being mean, talking about how they don't understand why he's on the show at all. Because at the end of the day, he's legitimately talented, and he seems like a nice guy. I worry about these things.

3) Bucky Covington, singing some song that I forget the name of.
I didn't pay any attention to this one, so I don't know what he sang, honestly. I didn't like what he was doing with the whole throaty-voice thing, that wave of music is pretty much over. Grunge already happened, like, ten years ago...and yeah, Creed's still around, but they already have a lead singer. That's it. Try something new, please. There's a voice in there somewhere. NEXT--

4) Will Makar--"I Want You Back"
Bad, bad, bad song choice. While a teenage boy exiting puberty may be appealing to Michael Jackson on a personal level, a teenage boy exiting puberty needs to sing songs like "Human Nature," not the Jackson Five bubble-gum stuff. On a surface level it seems he did alright, he sang the song technically well and he's cuter than a basket of puppies; but it also established his image as boring. This cracked his foundation. It was a bad night for him. Strike 1.

5) Sway--"Reasons"

He showed up in purple velvet sportcoat and cocked white hat, and sang mostly in falsetto. And I LOVED it! Why? I have no idea. It was crazy. But it takes a big man with a big voice to sing in falsetto, hardcore old-skool style, and pull it off. And pull it off, he did, even though Simon called him "pimpy." But doesn't Simon get it? That's what we love. I am Swayed. I'm totally a Swaymate now. Pimp on, I say.

6) Chris Daughtry--"Wanted: Dead Or Alive"
Oh please. Do we need another Bon Jovi? Yes, he was very very good. The judges went ga-ga for his rock-solid performance, and still I think Chris is the bee's knees, but the cheese factor was too much for me with this song. He told a story how he likes to sing this song at bars because the "crowd goes crazy." And you can totally see him singing that song in some bar, in Cleveland or Daytona Beach or someplace where Bon Jovi fans go to die, surrounded by a gaggle of barfly floozies with bad halter tops and visible thongs and acrylic nails, all planning how they're going to be the one he bangs that night. Blech. I still voted for him. Did I mention I look pretty fly in halter tops?

7) Kevin Covais--"One Last Cry"

Posted by Papi on February 24, 2006 6:37 PM