A Dose of Reality: American Idol 6: Men's Week 2
by The Trades Staff
Published: February 28, 2007
Last week, we saw the top 12 men and the top 12 women compete -- and the men were left with their tails hanging between their legs. In the end, Paul and Rudy paid the ultimate price of elimination.
This week all the guys know that they've been put on notice and that they need to step up their game. But who will actually rise to the challenge?
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Phil Stacey
"Missing You"
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Andrea writes: The military dedication was a good crowd grabber, but completely un-necessary. Wow. First of all, great tune. His vocals were rich, and he was engaging. He made the song his own, but still stayed true to its form. I personally thought that it was cut in the wrong spot, but all in all, a
hot performance. What a way to start the night.
Molly writes: Phil seems like a nice guy, and I appreciate his service to the country in the Navy. But I just don't appreciate his singing. He started off on the wrong foot, again, and ended up blah.
Paul writes: So Phil's already playing the "vote for me, I serve my country
in the military" card. I liked Phil's voice tonight. Things I don’t like about Phil: 1) his bald head; 2) his gigantic ears; 3) the huge bags under his eyes; 4) his girly last name.
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Jared Cotter
"Let's Get It On"
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Andrea writes: I don't see this as an adventurous song. Granted, Marvin Gaye provides a little more degree of difficulty, but it was still boring and bland to me. No sex appeal whatsoever. Merely a mediocre performance.
Molly writes: This is what I was hoping for tonight -- to have someone really improve off of their previous performance. Last week, I thought Jared gave an acceptable but uninspiring performance. This week, he brought a boatload of energy, charisma and technique. This was not a reinterpretation of Marvin Gaye -- it was a fairly faithful reproduction -- but it was miles better than his last performance.
Paul writes: My hometown boy. Last week I pointed out Jared's sex appeal, and Jared’s decided to play to that: in this sea of dorky little white boys, Jared is tall, dark and sexy. I thought Jared's singing was good, but not great. But I’m sure there was a puddle in Paula's seat. She'll be waiting in Jared’s dressing room after the show.
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A.J. Tabaldo
"Feeling Good"
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Andrea writes: Where was this voice last week? He did a great job on this -- his voice was soothing, and yet kept you interested. The song choice was bold, proving that he was listening to the judges last week. I'd like to see him stick around to see what he can do.
Molly writes: Wow. Jared impressed me with his improvement from last week, but A.J. just blew me away. An unusual and intriguing song choice, and I loved the execution. He sounded great, and has vaulted up into my top three off of this one performance.
Paul writes: I haven’t been that crazy about A.J. He's a little too happy for me. I have no memory of his performance last week, so I wasn't expecting much from him. But tonight, he sounded great —- his voice was really powerful. A.J. might have potential after all.
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Sanjaya Malakar
"Steppin' Out With My Baby"
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Andrea writes: Good call on tying the hair back, and the hat was an all right prop. I thought it was a cute performance. I enjoyed the song, despite the Michael Jackson like moves, but think he's still a little too green for this competition. But he is willing to take chances, albeit slowly. If he sticks around, he really needs to take it up three notches to stay in it with the rest.
Molly writes: What can I say? I like his voice. And I liked this song. I thought the costuming and choreography were a bit much, but his voice is just so easy and yet he'll also throw in interesting interpretive elements. Maybe he'd be better as a recording artist?
Paul writes: Talk about pandering for votes: Sanjaya's playing the "this is for my dead grandpa" card. Yikes. I’m guessing the hat and the slicked-back hair was an attempt to butch Sanjaya up. Unfortunately, he looked like Michael Jackson a few noses ago. Oops. Oh yeah, and his vocal sucked. Someone through Sanjaya a life raft. He's drowning.
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Chris Sligh
"Trouble"
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Andrea writes: Chris Sligh -- or as the ladies are calling him -- Chris Sigh. As a Hicks Chick, I was a little trepidacious about this song, but Chris did it a little differently than Taylor. He absolutely killed on this song. His vocals were rich and his performance subdued. It looked completely effortless. He's one that's got my vote for the finals.
Molly writes: Good. Very good. He showed power in his voice, and it was a bit of a change from last week. It didn't change my opinion on him, but I enjoyed it.
Paul writes: First, I gotta say, how refreshing to see the funny-looking fat guy get the hot girl -- Chris's wife is a piece of ass. Chris's vocal was fine, but what he's really got going for him is his personality -- and this boring song didn't showcase his personality at all.
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Nicholas Pedro
"Fever"
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Andrea writes: A great throwback to the smokey soul singers. His breathy voice was fantastic on this number, and he was hot and cool at the same time (cheesy choice of words, but I can't think of another way to describe it). I do have to agree with Simon about the wardrobe though. As for charisma, Nick has it in spades, he just has to draw it out further.
Molly writes: Nick's got a feel for this type of jazzy song. For me, though, this was, again, nice but unremarkable. And I suspect that Nick is limited in terms of musical styles he could work in. But could we advance the band's drummer through? That guy was working harder than Nick was!
Paul writes: I liked Nick a lot last week, and I like him again tonight. I disagree with Simon —- I think Nick has plenty of charisma. It was a surprising song choice, but Nick made this old song feel contemporary and kind of hot. And the "this is a valentine to my girlfriend" thing? Nick's getting some tonight.
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Blake Lewis
"Virtual Insanity"
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Andrea writes: This guy is interesting with a capital I. I loved the look, the performance, the vocals -- basically the whole package. He's unique, unusual, and very confident. He knows what he's doing up there. Top twelve all the way for this one -- and I can't wait to see what he does when he gets there.
Molly writes: This has probably been a big hit for Blake in the clubs. It's a great club song. In this context, Blake's voice sounded strained. He's fine -- he did what he had to do last week, and we're all waiting to see what he brings to different genres. But this wasn't his best.
Paul writes: Last week, Blake was by far the best of the guys. Tonight, I wasn't crazy about the song, but I still thought Blake sounded great. He could've waited another week or two before bringing back the sound effects. Blake is a natural on stage, and he's going to make it into the Top 12 no problem.
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Brandon Rogers
"Time After Time"
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Andrea writes: Okay, the dedication to his grandmother was very sweet, but what a snooze. I can appreciate him wanting to draw us in with his feelings on this, but you've got the pipes, buddy -- use them. I have no idea what he was thinking when he chose this song. I think he's going home this week.
Molly writes: It's a great song, and Brandon's got talent, so what went wrong? Was it the key? Was it nerves? There was just was no ooomph or richness in this performance. And, probably for the first time ever, I wished for a little falsetto -- just a little, at the very end.
Paul writes: With Brandon's dedication, we get another dead grandparent. Now, "Time After Time" is one of my all-time favorite songs (yes, I’m a child of the '80s), and no one sings it like my girl Cyndi Lauper. Brandon took an amazing, emotional song and turned it into something generic and boring.
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Chris Richardson
"Geek in the Pink"
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Andrea writes: He's got the likability factor, and it's not because of the similarity to Justin Timberlake. This guy is good. As Randy said -- he's in it to win it. I actually completely forgot that I was watching Idol. He'll be back for sure.
Molly writes: Chris gave another energetic performance. I didn't think it was quite as good as last week's. His vocals seemed weaker, to the point where the background music sometimes overwhelmed him. I'm a little surprised the judges were as enthusiastic as they were. For me, if you're going to sing Jason Mraz, you have to bring out every single word.
Paul writes: Another grandma. Jesus, take the wheel. At least this one's still alive. Chris sounded okay, but very boy band. And his dancing makes me dizzy. Did I miss something? The judges thought Chris was the best of the night, but I thought he was just okay.
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Sundance Head
"Mustang Sally"
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Andrea writes: Having not impressed me much during either the audition process or this competition so far, I have no problem now saying that I was completely blown away by his vocal performance last night. Now, I understand why he's in this competition. Let's hope he can stay.
Molly writes: Okay, I was surprised. Not by the performance, exactly, but by the song choice. He's dedicating a song to his baby son, and he chooses "Mustang Sally"? That's pretty strange. Performancewise, I guess it was good. I mean, if you like Sundance's style. I never did, so a good performance from him only rises to so-so with me. And he gets points off for the cheesy booming "thank you" at the end.
Paul writes: Sundance blubbered about how much he misses his newborn baby (did you see that picture? what an ugly kid!). I disagreed with the judges -- I thought Sundance's performance was very "drunk guy at the bar" karaoke. Didn't like it at all. You miss your son so much, Sundance? Why don't you go home to him.
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Previous Episodes:
Week 1: Men's Night | Week 1: Women's Night | Week 1: Results
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CD Giveaway - Paper Bird, "Rooms"
Ends May 28, 2013
Drifting ever so slightly away from traditional folk music, this Colorado band delivers harmony and energy aplenty. |
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