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Related Sites: · Official Site · Sirlinksalot: The One: Making a Music Star Host: George Stroumboulopoulos

Who knew that ABC would have the foresight to name their American Idol-derivative music elimination/reality series after the total number of households who actually watched its debut? Ratings have indeed been abysmal, but the show must go on for me, staff writers for Austin Carroll's hometown Memphis Flyer, and the five members of the Yahoo! Group dedicated to The One: Making a Music Star. Hey, it's summer, anyway, so who wants to be stuck inside watching television when y'all should be out... frolicking, or whatever.

The recap of last week's activities is brief. After all, there's not that many viewers to get up-to-speed. Nick plays mock "Taps" on the harmonica for the departed Jadyn. Strombo rehashes the extreme angst the contestants had over deciding who to save last week. Before things get too tedious, however, they move on. Not only the contestants, but apparently the producers also learned a thing or two this past week because the song choices are dialed-down to bring latent talent forward, and the sound quality has improved. Kara proclaims that they all looked like fools last week (I hope she's including the experts in that assessment) and have to work really hard this week. Andre sums up the situation by saying that the academy is not a talent show, but a breeding ground for super-stars. Laughably, Kara uses a teachable moment to look them all in the eye to say, "I've got one-tenth the talent of you," (and now I will pass that knowledge on to you!). She also advises the ladies, "No more hootchie mama, ever again. Less breasts on all the girls." Who asked you? I think they ought to hire whoever is dressing Zayra on Rock Star: Supernova. Did I just admit to channel surfing out loud?

Contestants

Nick Brownell	Austin Carroll	Michael Cole	Aubrey Collins	Caitlin Evanson
Scotty Granger	Adam McInnis	Jackie Mendez	Syesha Mercado	Jeremiah Richey

Music Experts

Mark Hudson	Andre Harrell	Kara DioGuardi

Individual performances are prefaced by a brief video segment showing the progress each has made at The One Academy during the week. Breaking up the long line of performances is a funny vignette with personal trainer Mark Jenkins from the Artist Development Team. It focused on the challenge of getting, especially, Austin and Scotty to get in better shape. It ends with several contestants physically restraining Scotty from attacking an attractive spread.

Syesha Mercado, Sarasota, FL - "If I Ain't Got You" (Alicia Keys)
Comments: Okay, maybe the cutest one didn't leave last week. She looks absolutely darling as a young Whitney Houston imitation. She wanted her week-two performance to be completely different, more earthy and organic. It is, and we're all so much better for it.

Aubrey Collins, Littleton, CO - "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan)
Comments: Aubrey missed that memo from Kara about "less breasts"... and we're all so much better for it. Now she drops a rather important tidbit about breaking things off with her boyfriend before embarking on this show. I'm peeved at the producers for gratuitously suggesting otherwise as she and Nick developed into the "house couple". Her performance was deemed not "depressing" enough. Did I see her flash a "Faith Hill" smile?

Nick Brownell, Sandusky, OH - "I'll Be" (Edwin McCain)
Comments: Kara wants Nick to get serious, and Nick is hot for teacher. The camera makes sure to capture Aubrey's (non-existent) reaction after showing Nick's flirtatious lesson. He and his guitar are out of tune and Kara rightly calls his performance a "pitch disaster".

Adam McInnis, Jackson, NJ - "True Colors" (Cyndi Lauper)
Comments: He balks at the songs they choose for him, pointing out the limited range of Terence Trent D'Arby's "Sign Your Name". "I love everything you say," gushes Mark, and I'm with him, but his performance was another story. You could tell even he knew he sucked at the end of it by his body language. His excuse is being choked up after the video segment talking about his dead father.

Caitlin Evanson, Seattle, WA - "I Can't Make You Love Me" (Bonnie Raitt)
Comments: She's scared of performing without the crutch of an instrument in her hands. She proves to have a presence out there on stage, all by herself, though her rendition at times was a bit too forceful.

Scotty Granger, New Orleans, LA - "Lately" (Stevie Wonder)
Comments: Creative editing shows Scotty catching forty-winks whenever he can at the academy, in an attempt to legitimize the personal trainer's concern about his fitness. He admits there's "too much going on" and contemplates quitting. The guy has got the look onstage, but the vocalizing at the beginning was too quiet, and, frankly, not that good. His voice needs to soar with the eagles.

Jackie Mendez, Miami, FL - "Emotion" (Samantha Sang/Destiny's Child)
Comments: Did they run out of licensing for Donna Summer songs? Jackie expected to be in the bottom three last week, and that this week will tell whether America loves her. I do... for this week. She was good (though you wouldn't know it from her comments afterward), although a bit too stationary on her stoop.

Jeremiah Richey, Waxahachie, TX - "Imagine" (John Lennon)
Comments: He's begun speaking about himself in the third person, and has even got Kara doing it. The guy's a star-in-the-making! I really like his voice, but his performance was too restrained, and... did he screw up the lyrics?

Michael Cole, Winston-Salem, NC - "Some Kind Of Wonderful" (Grand Funk Railroad/The Drifters)
Comments: Where did he pull this out of? I've derided him as "Karaoke Boy" but he put on a complete performance tonight, with smiles that were appropriate for the material. Andre summed it up by saying he "went from zero to hero". At the academy, Kara and Mark duet on a witty composition, "I'm Michael Cole," making fun of the behavioral restrictions placed on him.

Group Performance - "Slow Ride" (Foghat)
Comments: Okay, so, Michael may have erased any advantage he gained by flubbing his line, but he made up for it with some ad-libbing at the end. At times the group sounded harmonically great, and at other times they collectively sounded terrible. How do they do that? Following the finale, Kara jumps onstage and gives Michael and enthusiastic, and I mean enthusiastic hug, causing me to wonder if the producers are missing the boat by trying to hook her up with Nick.

Featured Artist Development Team Member

Mark Jenkins

Personal Trainer

My Bottom Three: Nick, Adam, Scotty - I love Adam's whole singer-songwriter attitude, but based on the presented performance, he lands here. Jeremiah barely misses inclusion.

Who's Gotta Go: Scotty - Nick's performance was the worst, but there's too much intrigue surrounding him, and the female audience members seem to adore him (okay, maybe females in general who aren't named Kara). I don't think Scotty's up to the challenge, though he's supremely talented.

Final Thoughts: I'm totally with Adam... experts, please pick better songs! With apologies to Syesha, something from this millennium would be nice. I'm looking forward to less contestants, which should correspond to more time for the academy process and Big Brother machinations.

Week 1
Recap	Results
"Not Saved"
Jadyn Maria