February 18, 2004 - Is This Thing On?

First up was Matthew Rogers, who performed a treacly pop song, faltering on many of the notes.

Matthew, who seemed to have promise because of his personality and his opera singer's voice, didn't display it this time around. Simon gave it three out of 10, and both Randy and Paula said it didn't live up to his potential. It probably didn't help him, either, that when Randy Seacrest was talking to the contestants later and asked them about tough judge Simon Cowell, Matthew said he'd like to "make his head bleed."

Next up was Briana Ramirez-Rial, a.k.a. Bree. I'd had high hopes for her because she'd shown a raw vocal power in the auditions, coupled with a punk persona that promised an interesting contrast to the other contestants.

But Bree was also off her game. She did a soulful version of "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones but failed to do justice to it, partly because she seemed to be holding back. The judges reamed her as well, questioning whether she'd sold out on that song and just gone for something safe. The problem was, if it was safe, it was also boring.

Then came Noel Roman, the first of a pair of twins competing this year. He absolutely tanked. And this is when the judges began to express concern that perhaps they'd picked the wrong people to advance. It became very frustrating, as if the stage was jinxed and no one could possibly do well.

The next one up was Kara Master. She also basically phoned in her performance, with a strangely inappropriate disco tune, "Set Me Free." As Randy said, "Wasn't for me." By this point I, like most of the audience, was just dying for someone to come along and impress me.

Then Lisa Leuschner took the stage. She had been criticized by Simon during auditions for being out of shape, but she's insisted she's happy with herself the way she is and figures that she can always make up for it with costuming.

She did so last night, wearing a black evening gown and teasing out her hair. She looked every bit the singer. What's more important, she was the first one to get up on that cursed staged and give a performance worthy of American Idol.

Even the judges had to agree. Randy said, "Finally, somebody out of group two who can sing." Paula said she has a good voice, and even Simon agreed that, "It was good, but it wasn't fantastic." This was the first person I felt I could actually vote for last night.

The second twin, Jesus Roman, did so badly that Simon said he made his brother sound good. I felt bad for them; it would have been nice if at least one of them had advanced. But they seem to have very similar abilities as well as identical looks.

Camile Velasco seemed shyly nervous but gave a subtle performance that showed off her rich voice. Randy's only complaint was that he missed his "hip-hop girl," the personality that came through in the auditions. He wanted her to be true to herself, which is good advice to anyone. She just might get her chance, if she advances.

The final contestant last night, Marisa Joy, performing "Some Kind of Wonderful," just struck me as being forced. For heaven's sake, she said, "Come on, y'all" in the middle of it! Randy and Simon questioned her stance on stage, with Simon saying she looked like a bar singer. Although she was wearing a short skirt, she stood with her legs spread apart, crouched forward.

But her performance was strong enough that Simon said she was in the top three. I agree. I would see her as the wild card, the one who might get through if my two top picks don't.

I voted for Lisa and Camile, and I'm guessing they'll make it through, especially since they both had positive comments from the judges. This means that so far there are no male finalists, but we'll see what next week's group of eight brings.

Tonight we'll find out who advances. And while I can't say for certain who will advance, I can say for certain this time which ones won't. The Roman twins, Kara Master and Matthew Rogers are going home.

Other Musings by Alyce on American Idol:

American Idol Index

Moral:
Sometimes there are no winners, only survivors.