StoneRose Valley

Once again, it’s that time of year. The Finale of finales’ has arrived.

We have Rod Stewart, Black-Eyed Peas, Cyndi Lauper, Lional Richie, Keith Urban, Queen Latifah, Carlos Santana, Jason Mraz, and David Cook, all gracing the stage tonight (reportedly).

Right now, we have the top thirteen performing Pink’s “So What”; great to see some old faces-Alexis Grace, for example! That was interesting; hearing the last words uttered by these thirteen contestants “I want to start a fight!”, while all decked out in white….yeah, this is american idol.

David Cook is performing “Permament” in honor of his brother, Adam, who passed away a few weeks ago. All the proceeds from the I-tunes sales of this song will go to charity.
It is wonderful to see David on this stage again…this man, is, IMO, hands-down the BEST american idol winner ever. He is the embodiment of everything that an A-I is supposed to be. He was obviously very touched by this song. That was another thing I loved about DC, the emotion he showed during his performances.

Now we get a tribute…Norman Gentle, anyone?
And I was right, Nick Mitchel, aka, Norman Gentle wins the male contestant tribute. And he takes the stage, singing for us one more time…wasn’t that something.

Queen Latifah is singing “Cue the Rain” with Lil Rounds…this is the kind of music Lil should be singing. But I’m tired of it already; can we move on now?

The top thirteen (minus Adam and Kris) are performing “I’m Yours” now with Jason Mraz; love Alexis Grace, as usual. She and Anoop each got their little solo’s.

Now we watch Kris’ journey through A-I…was so proud of him as I watched this.
We get to hear Kris perform with Keith Urban, “Kiss A Girl”.  These guys sound great together! Great choice putting Kris with Keith. Thoroughly enjoyed this performance.

The girls are performing now. Not liking Megan Joy or her outfit. Allison looks nice; Jasmine is darling! And Allison introduces Fergie…not one of my favorite singers out there. Now that number is over; Allison introduces Black-Eyed Peas. A-I blacks out a bit of the number…and when they brought it back, I changed the channel.

Back to the “Golden Idol”; tribute to those with the “best attitude”. Katrina; Tiffany Shedd; another girl in there; are the contenders….but the winner is Katrina. Yeah. Wasn’t a fan of her, either. So, once again, the channel changed.

Allison Iraheta takes the stage with Cyndi Lauper, singing “Time After Time”. Great performance by Allison. There’s something about this night; maybe because it’s no longer a competition, but more a time to have fun. Just much more relaxed.

Ryan talks with both Kris and Adam’s parents.

Back to the stage is Danny Gokey, singing “Hello”. Awesome song-one of my fav’s ever since DC did it last year. Danny’s performance is no David, but still quite enjoyable. Good song for him. Now Danny introduces Lional Richie for their duet; they’re doing a medley of Richie’s songs. Loved this! Also, this was the sort of music Danny said he wanted to do. I would definitely buy his album.

Now we get a glimpse of Adam’s journey….What in the world is he wearing?! That was a boring song….Now he’s singing with Kiss. All I can say is…did we just get transported to the circus?! These people are seriously disturbing. But Adam fits right in. I can’t say anything more about this. The scream in the middle didn’t even sound like it fit in the song, but it was like they said, “oh, we have to put an Adam signature scream in”, and so did. Just weird.

Guitar legend Carlos Santana is performing “Black Magic Woman”….we hear an awesome solo by Matt. Now we get the top thirteen for “Smooth”. Adam heads the group up; Jorge follows with some creepy moves; and then some awesome solo’s by Kris and Danny. Great number! Absolutely loved it!

Ryan promises the results soon. Final Ford Music Video…nice one; featuring clips from all the video’s this season…the song is “I Will Remember You”. David Cook shows up to hand over the keys for the guys new Ford Fusions….man, I need to get on this show.

Steve Martin, Megan Joy, and Michael Sarver are all on-stage singing “Pretty Flowers”…Steve with a banjo. What is this? Hilarious…my fam called it the “Clampett’s”. lol  Enjoyed Micheal…but he and Megan didn’t sound good together…I think that was Megan. Steve slips in a joke; when asked who he hope’s is the winner after tonight, Steve replied “I know it’s kind of a long shot, but I hope I do!”.

The guys from the top thirteen are back singing a pretty cool (and a bit funny) version of “Do You Think I’m Sexy”. Adam introduces Rod Stewart  after the guys are finished. Stewart is singing his “Maggie May”.

Last Golden Idol of the evening we are told…”Outstanding Female”….nominees are Chelsea, Irene, Dana, and Tatiana Del Torro. Tatiana is going to win this one….I was right. Of course, there’s a lot of drama here; Ryan says he’s out of time and has to cut to the commercial…Tatiana forces her way on stage, grabs the trophy and bursts into song…some escorts try to get her off-stage, but we cut to the commercial before anything else….this was so totally staged.

One of the best numbers tonight, Kris and Adam sing “We Are The Champions” together. Queen joins onstage with the guitar. The top thirteen join the chorus. Must be nearing the very end. Love watching the comraderie between the two guys as they share the stage here at the end. These guys sounded great together.

Soon, we will hear the results. My guess is that Kris wins….but it really could be either of them.

Simon said that either one could win and deserve it. 100 million votes…wow.
And the winner is….KRIS ALLEN!!!!! So totally deserved…and he still remains humble.
The judges make me so embarrassed…they really had a look as if to say “this is SO wrong”. I think Kris has shown amazing artistry this season; consistently growing each week, more so than any other contestant.
He sings once more “No Boundaries”…I like him singing this; and despite what others say, calling it a ‘corny’ song-I like it. Afterwards, before the station cuts, we see Kris locked into a hug with his wife. This man is amazing, I’ll say it again.

And so ends another season of american idol. I have to admit, I’m relieved that I don’t have to keep up with this show twice a week anymore. It will be nice to have my Tuesday and Wednesday evenings back.

“American Idol Hall of Fame”

Kelly Clarkson
Reuben Studdard
Fantasia Barrino
Carrie Underwood
Taylor Hicks
Jordan Sparks
David Cook
Kris Allen

“These names will go down in musical history as some of the best. Congratulations to each of you. And welcome to Kris Allen. Sometimes, slow and steady still wins the race.”

Over 88 million votes were cast we are told….that’s a lot of votes.

Love the dogs on the Ford Music Video; Break My Stride.
Alecia Keyes introduces Noah from Africa…missed where. This kid is so cute, and has a lot of energy.

We are promised a glimpse of the hometown visits after the break.
We will also see Jordin Sparks and Katy Perry tonight.

Danny got to hang out with his friend, Jamar Rogers, when he visited his hometown. He got quite a reception. We are reminded that Simon called one of his performances a “vocal masterclass”. Very impressive.

Kris gets free cheese dip for life…that’s the first time I’ve heard that one. Watching Kris’ homecoming…this guy really is the winner in this competition as far as I’m concerned. The depth, the growth this young man has exhibited during this competition is incredible.

Next, Jordin Sparks and the results.

Who is leaving tonight? I think it will be Danny, unfortunately. He did have the best song of the show last night; maybe just not enough at this point.

Back to Jordin Sparks, singing her new single, “Battlefield”. She looks a lot older, not too surprising since she’s about 19 now, versus the 17 we saw her win season seven. Like the song…but not such a fan of how she looks. Lost a lot of her sweetness, it seems. Just like Kellie Pickler.

Adam Lambert…his visit home was to San Diego. They visited his childhood theatre group; I’m sure he is an inspiration to those children. The judges thought Adam deserves a spot in the finale.

We have to sit through Katy Perry before we can hear the results…she’s doing her latest single; I actually couldn’t stand to watch it.

Kris Allen is competing next week; he made it into the finale! Yeah!
Adam Lambert is also in the finale. I am so very sorry to see Danny go; extremely talented man. We get to hear “You Are So Beautiful” again…he has a really pretty falsetto!

Simon said we might have a big “ding-dong” next week with Kris in the competition. We’ll see.

Early spoilers say that Danny Gokey will be singing “Dance Little Sister” by Terrance Trent D’Arby, and “You Are So Beautiful” by Joe Cocker. Adam Lambert is reported to have “One” by U2 and “Cryin” by Aerosmith up his sleeves….and Kris Allen is singing  “Apologize” by OneRepublic, great pick for him, and “Heartless” by Kanye West.
Looks like a pretty good group of songs, playing to each of their strengths quite possible.

Each contestant sings a song chosen for them by one (or two) of the judges. Each picks a song themselves to perform.
We will also see Jordin Sparks return to the A-I stage…tomorrow night. Read the rest of this entry »

The disco week is here! Still, not really excited about this, contrary to Ryan calling this night a “very exciting week”.

We still have seven contestants due to Matt’s win of the save last week (great performance!), so two will be leaving tomorrow night.

Lil Rounds is singing “I’m Every Woman”. She definitely is getting better at picking her songs. That Lil with the big voice we heard in the beginning of the season is back. I really didn’t have any complaints to make.

Randy said it “sounded so wild; still didn’t show us what kind of artist you are and what you can really do in this competition; or your vocal control”.
Kara told Lil, “we’ve all been waiting to hear you sing Chaka Khan…maybe not worth the wait”.
Paula told us that Lil had “no voice yesterday; I applaud your recovery. You were hot tonight, but maybe not boiling; remarkable recovery though”.
Simon thinks this is the “last week for you. There was no originality; the arrangement, vocals were a mess”.
I think the judges were all way too harsh with Lil tonight. It’s like they’ve made up their minds that she just has to go no matter what.

Kris Allen chose “She Works Hard For The Money” by Donna Summer. Interesting choice; I gotta say I love the stage setup. Reminds me of Katherine McPhee’s “Black Horse and The Cherry Tree” several seasons ago. No one can complain that this isn’t original. Has Kris written all over it. That last phrase was fantastic. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, here we are again. Another results show. Who’s leaving? I’m going to say either Lil or Matt….I hope it’s not Matt.

The top seven performed ‘She’s A Maniac’ by Hall and Oates. I have to say I LOVED this group number. Especially Kris, Anoop, and Matt’s parts. Have to say I wasn’t a fan of Adam, Danny, or Allison on this one…

I missed the Ford Music Video this week…my TV completely lost the signal. If you missed it like me, catch it here.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the night: Songs of the Cinema! And we have Quentin Tarantino working with the contestants. I’m not expecting him to be lenient with them.

Missed the intro due to my TV not receiving the channel correctly…same ole’ story.

OK, so same format as always, right? I’ll sum up my thoughts on a contestant, tell you what they’re singing, and what the judges said. After that, I’ll share which were my favorites, and who was a dissapointment. And finally, I’ll include a poll or two at the end…a little interaction, since you all are scared stiff to leave any sort of comment…lol

Allison Iraheta picked, from the movie Armaggedon, “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”. My initial thought: Read the rest of this entry »

Here it is, the week I’ve been both eagerly anticipating, yet dreading. Dreading because there is so much talent here in the first round, and yet only three will be able to progress.

I’ll be typing this in real time, so forgive me in advance, as I know I will miss some details.

First up is Jackie Tohn. This girl has a ton of personality. She chose to sing “A Little Less Conversation”. This is definitely not one of my favorite performances…she was really energetic, in her favor–as Kara said, she really knows how to work a stage; but I don’t think her tone is one I like. Not bad, but just not my kind of thing. But that is just personal preference–nothing concrete.
Simon thought she played the clown…unfortunate for Jackie.

Ricky Braddy is next up in the spotlight. Singing “A Song for You”, Ricky blew me away. I was NOT expecting this. Will he take the spots I’d previously imagined for Danny and Anoop? If not, he should definitely make the wild card.
Randy said this was the start of season 8-the way to jump it off.
Kara called it amazing and effortless. And a hard song to sing.
Paula said he deserves to go very far.
Simon isn’t ‘jumping out of [his] chair’, and doesn’t think Ricky has the self-belief and the charisma to be a star and needs to believe in himself.

Alexis Grace; “Never Loved a Man” was her choice and what a choice it was! Perfect for her! This is a little girl with a big voice. All I could think is ‘Way to go, girl!’. She’s going to go far, whether she continues on this show or not.
Randy is “loving [her] right now”.
Kara is “digging it”.
Paula loves her quiet confidence; calling it a fantastic performance.
Simon thought her the best by a mile so far. He called her a potential dark horse; comparing her to Kelly Clarkson.

Brent Keith had to take the stage after Alexis’ amazing performance, as well as a technical glitch with his video, and he didn’t do bad by a long shot. Singing “Hick Town”, he wanted to show everyone who he is. As a country singer, I really like him; unfortunately, I don’t think he’s good enough to compete with some of the others.
Randy liked the return to the country roots but with a new edge to the old stuff.
Kara thought he played it a little safe, and that he has more than he showed tonight.
Paula thought he took more risks at audition.
Simon said what we all know, you only have one shot; and he thought Brent blew a massive opportunity and was forgettable.

Stevie Wright is my favorite girl so far. She chose “You Belong with Me”, and starting off, you could really hear the nerves. I would love to see her in a later season–is that possible after she’s already appeared here in the top 36? There were some breathy issues.
Randy said it was safe…and not hot.
Kara thought she picked a song with nothing to do with her. Identity crisis.
Paula had to agree with the others. Said she has better skills than that.
Simon called it terrible.

Anoop Desai sang “Angel of Mine”, and it was as good as we knew it would be. But…in a way, it seemed safe. Personally, I was looking for more from him.
Randy thought it an interesting song choice. He called it a little sharp; and thought it never quite settled; it wasn’t Anoop’s best but still has a fan in Randy.
Kara did not think he has the rifts or the ability to sing that particular song. But still, she likes Anoop and connected with him.
Paula said “the world has connected with you. I think Anoop dog’s here for a while”.
Simon said it was too old and serious. “We’ve heard you better but you have a massive likability factor going for you”.

So far, I’d pick Ricky, Alexis, and Jackie. We’ll see how the others fare.

Casey Carlson picked a Police song, “Everything He Does”…it sounded a little weak, but I like her tone.
Randy let out an oooh. He thought it completely wrong, and weirdly kareoke.
Kara thought the song was wrong, wrong; overdone and had high hopes.
Paula said the phrasing was weird. Again, it was the wrong song, just didn’t work.
Simon was glad she had fun; thought she looked good. But, the singing was atrocious, and said she could not have chosen a worse song. He called it “kareoke, and it doesn’t tell us who you are”.

Michael Sarver sang “I Don’t Want To Be”. I really, really like him. There seemed to be some problems with the sound…don’t know if that was overall, or just my TV…
Randy thought he could definitely sing but it started a little bit off in pitch.
Kara called it “a great crowd pleaser song”. But she enjoy seeing him sing “what’s true to you”. But we’ve seen better.
Paula said he did a “real good job. This is a different side of you”. But she was confused and distracted by the mic changing hands. Paula was sure, though, that he did Gavin McGraw proud.
Simon: “This show gives you an opportunity…You are a good, honest guy…We’ve heard a lot worse tonight, but this was not the best either”.

Singing “Natural Woman”, Ann Marie Boskovich wanted to put her “own natural twist to it”. And yes she did!! Ann Marie brought it tonight. She and Alexis are going to be battling it out. And she brings the house to it’s feet!!
Randy asked her how she thought she did-her answer: pretty good. But not according to Randy. He said it was the same old problem as nearly everyone else that night: the wrong song choice; “Didn’t get the song choice at all”.
Kara was quite empathetic, “you have to kill this song if you do it. It feels old-fashioned; you should do something girly”.
Paula said that, “compared to Hollywood and auditions you did better! This song requires a tremendous amount of soulfulness. You gave it your all”.
Simon thought her voice not good enough for that song. “This performance was not good enough for the real world. You may have ruined your one chance.”
I completely disagree!! Her mom said she thought she was awesome and I agree wholeheartedly.

Oh, look; there’s a new X-Men coming out May 1st! Oh, the things they have while you’re waiting for A-I to return.

Stephen Fowler sings a Michael Jackson song, “Rock With You”. I think this was another bad song choice. I found myself clapping and “rocking away” with him, but that was more from the beat of the song…not really to do with Stephen.
Randy thought he wasn’t underneath the notes.
Kara reminded everyone of Stephen behind a piano, saying “with a piano you were connected. Not now.”
Paula said that “to sing ‘Rock With You’ is like the kiss of death.
Simon said “I wish you had forgotten the lyrics. Terrible arrangement. The last ten seconds were okay. But it was a bit corny”.

Tatiano Del Toro chose to sing “I’m Saving All Of My Love For You”. Tatiana can definitely sing…it’s whether she can connect with people and if they like her enough to send her on. Truthfully, I don’t think she’s presented her best side to people. She comes off looking selfish. I don’t want to believe that’s true; I prefer to give her the benefit of the doubt, but she better start working on her public relations. But she did have an amazing vocal performance tonight.
Randy thought there were some moments and was really impressed.
Kara said Tatiana is like a rollar-coaster ride. “This is a very reserved Tatiana. Who are you? Where do you fit in all this?”
Paula called her “the most talked about contestant so far. Good and/or bad.” But she was not used to the “demure Tatiana”. And thought her closing note was beautiful.
Simon, whether he menat this in a good or bad way, I don’t know; he called Tatiana “a drama queen”, and said that she was “surprisingly not bad at all. Much better than I expected.”
I liked her a lot more tonight.

At long last! the one I’ve waited all night for; Danny Gokey closed the night with Mariah Carey’s “Hero”. I like the beginning of this…This guy is an extremely talented young man. I haven’t ever heard a performance of “Hero” sung by a guy that I liked until tonight. I feel so inspired listening to him…this is like listening to the beginnings DC all over again. Standing OVATION!!!! And no one can be quiet; the crowd is wild! He was amazing tonight; totally my favorite all over!!! Even now, quite some time after his performance, I’m still breathless and excited.
Randy called him “blazing hot!”
Kara called Danny “a hero; incredible. You give us all hope. This was GREAT!”
Paula said he was “steller”, and that she could envision “sold out arenas”.
Simon thought it was good, but wasn’t fantastic. “The end was great, the beginning was good. I’m just not buying the hype right now so much.”

I think it’ll be between Danny Gokey, Alexis Grace, Ricky Braddy; with Ann Marie Boskovich and  Tatiana Del Toro possibly in there somewhere. But I truly think those three will be in the top runners.

Well, we now have Louisville behind us….there were a LOT of people who showed up….and not so many who got through to Hollywood.

Here are those who were noteworthy.

Joanna Pacitti-23 years old-had a very nice voice. I was impressed as well as the judges.

Brent Keith Smith was surprising; his voice is very different, but I believe I like him.

Matt Giraud…I wrote him down as noteworthy…but I can’t for the life of me remember him now. Oh, well.

Alexis…I thought she had something there, but she should tone it down a bit…just my opinion.

Aaron Williamson. He didn’t make it through, but he deserves a remark. Very nice young man, he really did brighten up the day. He, Paula, and Kara had a shout fest going on there.

Getting towards the end of the hour, I wanted to cry out “Can we just dispense with the drama?!!!” No, impossible. It went on.

But one more outstanding individual caught some attention before the conclusion: 18 year old Leneshe Young. Very nice vocals, and her original song was quite something as well.

Keep your eyes out for these individuals as we enter rougher waters…and see you tomorrow at Jacksonville, Florida.

San Francisco….I didn’t see a lot of talent tonight…but a few memorable moments;

First up was Tatiana Del Torro….she had an OK voice…but was really annoying.

Jesus’ Valenzula had some nice vocals…and you just had to love those kids of his! I really did like his voice, I just think that he needs to find a style that goes with it–his musical groove.

The top vocalist we saw tonight has to be Adam Lambert. This guy has a great voice. I really, really liked it. True, he does seem a bit theatrical, but I’m excited to see where he goes. Adam should be a major contender in this competition.

I also was impressed by Kai Kalama. Sure, he could learn a lot, but this guy’s got heart. He’s got good, solid vocals, and now just needs to learn to use them well. I’ll be watching for him.

Overall, tonight was pretty uneventful…but who knows what talent will show up in Hollywood!

I felt just about dead after all the D-R-A-M-A tonight. I don’t blame folks for getting emotional over not getting in-hey, that’s probably what I’d be doing. But pleeeaaassseee camera dudes! Get out of their faces and leave them be!

I missed some of the first couple auditions, but here are my favs….

Von Smith has a good voice…but he seemed like he was pushing for it too much. He can get better, and I look forward to seeing that in Hollywood, hopefully.

Micheal Castro?! What! This is Jason’s kid brother?! Wow! I like this dude. He is definitely a Castro, but his own individual. This should be fun.

The welder guy-Matt Breitzke was it? He has a nice voice, but needs a lot more something…probably support and technique.

OK, I absolutely LOVED Jessica Furney. This girl is so sweet, and really has a great voice. Of course, she could be better, and she’ll learn. I can’t wait to see what she does.

Jamar and Danny…This friendship really touched me. Jamar was only so-so for me, but Danny? He’s in my top now. Aside from the very sad facts of what he’s been through the past few months; he has a fabulous voice. Oh, I am SOOOO excited to see him grow and develop!

Anoop…Is that a name? I don’t even know if I’m spelling it right….He stood out, but I’m not sure if that was a positive thing or not….

Asa Barnes; his daughter is so cute! And he also had some nice vocals.

And Lil Rounds reminded me somewhat of Melinda Doolittle. She has a good voice, which is always helped out by appearing very sweet and humble.

One thing I got to say; I mean what’s-his-name? The dream guy…Dennis? I have to agree with Simon there. Dream-dude totally talked the judges into letting him go on…and personally, I find that very distasteful in an individual. But he’s on to Hollywood. Let’s see if he can make good his promise.

Honestly, I’m not sure I can sit through the auditions next week. I alternately wanted to pull my hair out, scream, and wished I could sink through the floor in embarrasment for/at the contestants. Is it just for the few seconds of TV “fame” that they do these crazy things? Really….I’m still shaking my head.

Well, next Tuesday then.