StoneRose Valley

I regret to inform you that I will be posting my opinions…thoughts…or whatever they may be, later tonight than usual. I have a business meeting that my class is required to attend…and that just happens to be at the same time as American Idol airs.
But, some good friends of mine (also my sponsor-check it out) are going to Tivo it for me, and let me come by after my meeting so I won’t miss anything! So, check back here around, say, 9:00 or 9:30 and I should have my comments up. Hope all of you enjoy watching tonight’s show! Personally, I’m keeping my fingers crossed…

So, whaddaya think? Who is going to be our top three from this group?

Hurry, this poll will close before the results show tomorrow night!

Here we are again; another twelve hopefuls will be performing tonight. I will be typing this review up in real time…adding each contestant as they finish their performance so you can follow right along with me!

Jasmine Murray will be starting off the night with “Love Song”. The start is kind of iffy. Her performance is fairly good, but really does not stand out. I don’t think this night will turn out good for her. I do like Jasmine and think she is quite talented, but this year might be too early; can she and Stevie Wright come back next year?
Randy thought it was the wrong song choice, and a little pitchy at times.
Kara thought the range was too low for her; not her best performance.
Paula has to agree with the others. But likes her confidence.
Simon likes her. But he thinks it’s a couple of years too early to really see what she can do.

Matt Giraud comes next. Singing “Viva La Vida”; honestly, I wasn’t too sure about this song choice. There is something I like in his voice…but I don’t like how breathy his tone is. The song just isn’t right for his voice.
Randy thinks Matt has ‘mad talents’. His advice: “Go for Ray Charles. Chris from Coldplay wouldn’t be singing Ray Charles–Matt, you can!”
Kara thought the bluesy soulful guy was lost in the song.
Paula really liked him a lot in Hollywood. She thought it a risky song to pick. She saw his rehearsal and thought Matt’s performance tonight was far better than the rehearsal.
Simon thought it verging on a horrible performance; “You turned from someone very cool to a wannabe pop star.”

Jeanine Vailes is next up, performing “This Love” by Maroon Five. Honestly, I’m already put off, as I really dislike Maroon Five. But she sounds pretty good. Well, the verse was good. The chorus sounded pitchy to me. Was daring at the end. But overall….ah. This is a not-so-good night for these contestants.
Paula didn’t get anything out except that Jeanine has good legs…? This is a singing competition, not a beauty pagent Paula!
Simon thought it was terrible for Jeanine. “Everyone is choosing the wrong songs tonight!” he exclaimed.
Randy agreed with Simon that it was the wrong song choice.
Kara called it overdone.

Nick Mitchell is next….oh, this guy really gets on my nerves. He mentioned having an identity crisis–yeah! He makes me think of another Taylor Hicks….he might be entertaining from a stage, but come on, honestly folks! would you buy an album of his? Would you not change the radio station if you heard this come on? My sister compared him to a floor show…and I think she’s right. Please, people, don’t cause one of the better singers to leave by keeping this floor show fellow in the competition!
Simon prays he does not go through to the next round. He called it “one of the most atrocious performances we’ve ever had; it was like a horrific comedy!”
Randy thought it one of the most entertaining performances ever.
Kara laughed; “at least we remember you. You wear the same shirt like Simon every week. You’re not a terrible singer, I don’t see you in the music market but I enjoyed you.”
Paula contributed this to the conversation; ‘This is America and we get all types of singers. You are a true performer, this may not be the stage for you, but there is a [proper] place for you.’
PLEASE!! Vote him into some comedic platform…he is really good at what he does, but this is not the competition he should be in.

Allison Iraheto, only sixteen, is singing “Alone” by Heart tonight…Ramiele Malubuy sang this last year extremely well. Allison reminds me a bit of Gina Glocksen. I like this girl-definitely the best of the night so far! I love her husky tone; very nice performance indeed.
Randy thinks this is a funny show tonight. “Now we have real singing. You’re jumping it off tonight!–blew it off the box; hottest of the night so far!”
Kara thinks Allison doesn’t even know how good she is. “Keep getting comfortable on stage. With the right song you can have a big hit on the radio.”
Paula brought back this familiar phrase from last year “You can sing the telephone book. By far the best of the night!”
Simon disagrees with Randy-”Randy said you might be the best of the night-no, you ARE the best. You need a little more confidence and to show a little more personality. But that was good.”

Kris Allen is one of my early likes. Singing“Man in the Mirror”, he is, in my opinion, the best of the guys so far. Really enjoying this performance. He puts me in mind Chris Richardson from season five. Oh, yeah!! This guy is good!
Kara thought the back half was way better than the front; and thought it was the wrong song.
Paula disagreed completely with Kara. “You showed personality; and nailed the song! You looked harming up there.”
Simon agrees with Paula! YES! Saying Kris is “not the best singer in this competition, but what you did tonight was good. You made an effort. I was quite proud of you!”
That’s the review I’m looking for! Quite a hit!
Randy thinks Simon was partly right. “You can do it without the guitar. Nice jump-off.”

Up next is Megan Corkrey singing “Put Your Records On”. This is another of those ’safe-songs’. But it is suited to her voice. She lacks stage presence, but no denying she has a good voice. I would like to hear a little more support beneath her voice though. So far tonight, I’d place her in the top three.
Paula; “You won us over in Salt Lake. Picked the right song; you did everything right tonight. I loved you.”
Simon called her “a funny little thing. It started off really well. But you oversang the second part of the song.” Simon said he hopes that America votes for Megan; but just wished the vocals were a little bit better tonight.
Randy loves the smokey jazz tone of her voice.
Kara said Megan is “a packaged artist. With the right song/video, you could do really well.”

Matt Breitzke is singing “If You Could Only See” by Tonic. To me, his performance seems to lack passion. I was a bit bored. Nice vocals though.
Simon really likes Matt. But hated that song. “I’m frustrated because you were one of the few guys I remembered. This was boring and didn’t suit you.”
Randy thought the performance was boring and didn’t show “the great Matt from Hollywood. But I like you. Good luck.”
Kara agreed; “we all like you, but this didn’t show us any side of you. You can sing, so this was about poor song choice.”
Paula echoed everyone else, saying “you have a real nice voice…just not the right song for you.”

Jesse Langseth, a single mom, chose “Bette Davis Eyes”. Well, she’s better than many others we’ve had tonight. She, like Megan, has that bluesy-jazz quality to her voice. I like her actually. But her performance was also a bit boring. I wanted to see her move about a little more; draw us in.
Randy thought it an ok performance. “But it wasn’t really exciting. I want to see you stretch yourself.”
Kara said “this is your best look…You also took some risks tonight; this wasn’t the most rangy to show yourself off, but there were some moments.”
Paula told Jesse “I have found you captivating throughout. You have an identifiable sound; I remember you. You’re cool.”
Simon disagreed with Paula, saying “I think you’re forgettable. You have quite a nice voice though.”

Kai Kalama is singing “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted”. Nice vocals…but I’m bored so far…is getting though. Kai does have some good tone. But this is just a safe performance.
Kara told Kai “I just like you; you’re a really good guy. There were some pitch issues, and it was a little old fashioned. But there were some moments.”
Paula said she could tell Kai likes the throw-back songs, calling him quite the performer. “You have the chops to do really do well in this business if you work hard.”
Simon thought it very old fashioned; comparing it to a hotel performance. “There was nothing distinct, original, or memorable about it. You’d make a good back up singer.”

Mishavonna Henson, with “Drops of Jupiter”, has a very different voice from what we’ve heard so far. Love the verses, but the chorus has been fairly bland. Until that last one. That was nice.
Paula is a fan of Mishavonna’s voice, but that song wouldn’t have been Paula’s choice for her; “That song just didn’t excite me.”
Simon said the song was a great one, but thinks Mishavonna’s too serious; though technically a really good singer. “But that left me very cold. I want to see a younger and funner side of you.”
Randy thought Mishavonna feels so much older than 18. “And this song didn’t show your voice off.”
Kara didn’t mind the song but wants to see her loosen up a bit.

Adam Lambert chose to sing “Satisfaction”…and I really don’t know what to say. I don’t like his song choice. Has a good voice….but I really don’t like this. I’m very dissapointed.
Paula doesn’t even have words to express…”I feel like I’m watching the Adam Lambert concert. In a league of your own.”
Simon said “I am really finding this difficult. There were parts that were terrible, and parts that were quite incredible.”
Randy loved it! “Here’s why, you’re one of the most current artists we’ve seen. You gotta’ watch, don’t overdo it though. It was the bomb!”
Kara told Adam “Your vocal technique is outrageous. You have a crazy range in a good way.”

My top two guys would be Kris….and Kris. Was really dissapointed in the guys tonight. But I’m going to predict Kris and Adam as the top guys. As for the girls…Would definitely be Allison and Mishavonna.

I would love to hear what your thoughts on tonight are; leave me a comment!

The next group of twelve to perform (Wednesday night-not Tuesday) consists of

Adam Lambert
Allison Iraheto
Jasmine Murray (go girl!)
Jesse Langseth
Kai Kalama
Jeanine Vailes (I think)
Matt Brietzke
Matt Giraud
Nick Mitchell
Megan Corkrey
Felicia Barton
Kris Allen (I remember liking him)
and Mishavonna Henson

I hope it will not be every Wednesday/Thursday from now on…bad timing. As far as this group is concerned; some good singers in here. Though this group isn’t quite as tight as last weeks. It’ll be close to call…so I’m not yet. I’ll wait till I actually hear them.

Check back here Wednesday at/around 8/7c as I hope to post in real time for you to follow along with. I will also open a poll to see who’s the popular pick for the top three!

Tonight was tough for many young people. For others, it was the start of the realization of a dream.

Here are the top thirty-six:
Anoop Desai
Von Smith–I think he has a great voice, but is far too dramatic; if he can just tone it down a little.
Alex Wagner Trugman–was one of those who were required to participate in a “sing-off”.
Adam Lambert–No surprise there!
Taylor Vaifanua
Jasmine Murray–Don’t know her personally, but I am really excited to see her progress through this competition; she is, after all, representing my hometown!!
Arianna Asfar
Casey Carlson
Megan Corkrey
Mishavonna Henson
Stevie Wright–this girl was a favorite of mine from the first.
Joanna Pacitti
Kendall Beard
Kristen McNamara–one of the unfortunates picked for the “sing-off”.
Alexis Grace
Scott MacIntyre–I really like this guy.
Lil Rounds–great talent.
Jesse Langseth–another of the “sing-off” victims.
Allison Iraheto
Danny Gokey–Danny is my early pick absolute favorite!! I was so happy to see him progress; and heartbroken with him when Jamar didn’t make it.
Ricky Braddy
Matt Giraud
Jo’not Joyner
Jorge Nunez
Brent Keith
Stephen Fowler
Nick Mitchell aka “Norman Gentle”–I think he is capable of quite a lot…but at the time, I’m under the impression that he’s a joke. Could not believe he made it through when David Osmond did not….
Tatiana Del Toro–She really does have a good voice. I feel sorry for her; she doesn’t seem too well liked. I think she’d find it extremely helpful to tone everything down a bit. Too emotional and loud. But real talent in her voice.
Jackie Tohn
Nathaniel Marshall–another “emotional”. And somebody needs to give him some style advice.
Jeanine Vailes
Kai Kalama
Anne Marie Boskovich
Kris Allen
Matt Breitzke–was in a “sing-off” with Michael Sarver….and both made it through.
Michael Sarver–another of my favorites…he is such a nice, gentlemanly fellow. I fell in love with his voice and who he is.

Those who deserve acknowledgement but didn’t make it through to the top thirty-six:
Cody Sheldon
T.K Hash
Chris Chathem
Regg Beasley
Jenn Korbee
Frankie Jordan
Felicia Barton
Ashley Hollister
Devon Baldwin
Jamar Rogers
Shera Lawrence
Derik Lavers
Jackie Midkiff

*My apologies if I mispelled any names or left anyone out in the acknowledgement.