thank god we're almost there

[jlh]

Okay that opening with all the girls standing in a row was LOL-tastic, especially Crystal's eyebrow raise-head tilt. I want her by my side in a bar fight I tell you what.

The theme for this week, as the judges noted, was separating the ladies who know who they are as artists from the ones who don't.

1. Katie, "Breakaway." Flat in the verse, sharp in the chorus—quite an accomplishment. She needs to grow into that voice, and then figure out what she wants to do with it.
   
2. Siobhan, "House of the Rising Sun." Full disclosure: I really hate this song. (And her father looks like exactly the kind of annoying guy who would sit around playing it on the piano all the time with the longish hair and the beret. Come on, dude.) So that I was really impressed by her version says a lot. The a capella opener was fantastic. Of course Simon didn't like it because Simon doesn't like dark songs, so you can discount him.
   
3. Lacey, "The Story." She was better, but in a way I don't really care about. If you like that sort of thing, you will find it is the kind of thing you like, and competently done.
   
4. Katelyn, "I Feel the Earth Move." When Ryan said she was going to sing Carole King I knew she'd pick this song and play the keyboards, but I thought she'd be more animated than this. Simon often says things sound like hotel bars but this actually did. That said, I think she's interesting, and she didn't suck, so there you go.
   
5. Didi, "Rhiannon." Yay, she was awesome again! I love that song, but I thought she also did interesting things with it, and she was back to sounding like herself and not trying to be some pop cutie.
   
6. Paige, "Smile." No, honey. Oh dear. That song is too much like a sing yourself off song, is the thing, and she was like, crying too much over MJ to sing it, she should have been singing something else. Also her joy that came through the other weeks was totally gone, and when she loses that she loses her appeal.
   
7. Crystal, "Gimme One Reason." Yes, please, thank you. I know we're all worried that she's getting pushed too much, but when you see her in contrast to almost everyone else, of course you're going to gush.
   
8. Lilly, "I Fall to Pieces." I wish she'd sung "Walking After Midnight." It was her quirky thing, and she did it well, and I really liked it, but it wasn't awesome.

I'm voting 5x each for Lilly, Crystal and Didi, and 2 or so for Katelyn and Siobhan. I would vote for Paige, but (and I hate to say this) Brandon taught me in season 6 not to vote for people who are kinda shaky but you still like them.

Comments

[ignaz]

Oh, man, I liked Brandon, too. I can't believe I remember that!

[jlh]

I was SO MAD at him! I voted for him like, eleventy billion times to get out of the semis and into the finals and then he fucking blows the lyrics and goes out the first week. Lesson learned: if they ain't ready for prime time after three weeks of semis, they ain't gonna be ready.