This Week In Tonight In American Idol [17 February 2009]

pre-show-ish: Hai! tonite I'm back with a live-ish first-impression blog. We'll see how this works. [We're doing this from a TVR'd recording, but it is still sorta live-ish, we swear! -- Eds.]

First, a little housekeeping...

There are some changes to this year's semifinal format. We have 36 semifinalists this year, instead of the last few years' 24. For each of the next three weeks, 12 semifinalists will compete on Tuesday, and America will vote, and each week the Top Female, the Top Male, and the next-highest vote-getter (regardless of gender) will advance to the finals. The judges also will be able to advance three "wildcard" contestants to the finals.

Tonite, we begin the first round-of-12-semifinalists. We are two hours tonite...LIVE!!!
8:03: Advice from the judges...blah, blah, blah, in it to win it...blah, blah, blah...bring it...

8:05: Only Simon gets it right -- for the next three weeks, only 25% of the contestants know they will get through...unlike in recent years, when *most* contestants knew they were safe each week...

8:06: Our theme tonite -- hits from the Billboard Hot 100 "since the charts began"...which means the Idols can sing basically any pop song they want from the last 60 years, but which also obviously means we'll have the usual mix of 60's and...er...70's "standards" tonite...

8:07: Our first 12 semis: Jackie Tohn, Ricky Braddy, Alexis Grace, Brent Keith, Stevie Wright, Anoop Desai, Casey Carlson, Michael Sarver, Ann Marie Boskovich, Stephen Fowler, Tatiana Del Toro, and Danny Gokey...

Wow! This is actually a very talented group! Many of these people are going home tomorrow...bummer...

8:07: First up is "Miss Personality" Jackie Tohn...singing Elvis' "A Little Less Conversation"...

...and she turns it into a Kansas City Ramada lounge song...

NO

"folks, don't forget to try the fish..."

also, doing herself no favors with the pants and the shoes...

I won't bother to recap the judges' opinions, cuz I'd be here forever...for the semis, I'll just give my insta-reactions...

gimme a break -- it's been a year since i did this...

8:10: BTW, Simon completely agrees with me...

8:12: Oh great -- three weeks of Ryan asking the families "how did the apple of your eye do? how mean was simon?"

sigh...

8:18: next up is Ricky Braddy...obviously, the intro order will be tonite's performance order...

he sings "A Song For You" by Leon Russell...

damn, this is good...

okay, this is really good...

all the judges agree, but Simon wonders whether he has "any star quality"...

8:22: Yep, here's the family again...this is how we'll fill two hours for the next three weeks...

8:28: All performances this season are available on iTunes. Good call, American Idol...

8:30: Next up: Alexis Grace...one of Idol's many fuschia-haired young moms this season...

...singing "Never Loved A Man" by Aretha Franklin...singing Aretha is almost always a bad choice...let's see how she does...

damn! this is also really quite good...

it will be so hard to "eliminate" nine people tonite...

Simon: best of the three so far..."reminds me of Kelly Clarkson...one to watch..."

8:39: Next up is Brent Keith...and we have our first tape FUBAR of the season? oh, and now the tape is back...

was that Tatiana on the tape?

8:40: Brent is back, and he sings "Hick Town", by Jason Aldean...

this is doing nothing for me...

the judges aren't really digging it either...Brent is in trouble, considering how well Ricky and Alexis have already done...

here come the Bucky Covington comparisons....RUH ROH!

8:44: Brent returns to the couch, and Ryan has already started talking to Brent's wife before Brent even gets there...already, the show has a "going over" feel to it...

8:50: Next up is Stevie Wright...she says she's been wanting to do this "since I was nine years old, when the show began"...

thanks, Stevie, for making me feel REALLY FUCKING OLD!!!

8:51: Stevie is singing "You Belong With Me", by Taylor Swift, another really young artist with whom Stevie connects...

and this is really underwhelming...

NO

Taylor Swift is not a great singer...but Stevie Wright is no Taylor Swift...if you get my drift...

and, SHOCKINGLY!!!, the judges are savaging her...

Simon: "it was terrible...zero chance of you making it through to the next round after that..."

8:55: Next is...Anoop Desai..."Anoop Dogg"...

Anoop is singing "Angel Of Mine" by Monica, which is a terrific song...

okay, this is fantastic...this guy has real potential...he's not Archuleta-esque...he probably needs a new look, but he has the vocal chops...

8:58: Anoop Dogg gets the first Paula Standing-O of the nite!

The judges are not crazy about the song choice, but they all agree he has "it"...if Anoop doesn't make "Top 3" on Wednesday, he's probably a lock as a wildcard...

9:06: Next up is Casey Carlson...Casey's singing "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by The Police...

there really are like two tiers tonite...this is "Tier 2"...and that's not where Casey wants to be...

Casey gets the first "karaoke" comment of the nite (from Randy)?...the judges are savaging Casey...Casey gets the first "you're beautiful" comment of the nite (from Paula)?

Simon: "threw it all away..."

and, they're right...

9:17: Next up is "oil rigger" and Ryan's "twin", Michael Sarver...he's singing "I Don't Want To Be" by Gavin DeGraw, which is a much better song than most pop critics give it credit for...

okay, when did Rascal Flatts vocalist Gary LeVox substitute himself in this competition for Michael? man, is this weak...

[LeVox is alright, but this IS weak -- Eds.]

the judges agree it was not a good choice, but they all agree they like him and would like to see him continue...

9:23: Next up: Ann Marie Boskovich, a "demo singer" (oh noes! another ringer!!!)...

she's singing "Natural Woman" from Aretha...please scroll back up...

it's "demo singer"-worthy, which puts it around the bottom...WHOA! what was that note?...the VERY bottom of Tier 1...

or maybe the top of Tier 2

OH, WHOA! AGAIN???

TIER 2!!!

top or middle?

PAULA ABDUL OUT-OF-IT SCALE WATCH: Paula thinks this is Ann Marie's best performance...discuss...

Simon: ruined your one chance...sorry...

9:34: Next up: Stephen Fowler, who's had some trouble remembering his lyrics...tonight, he will try to remember the lyrics to "Rock With You", by Michael Jackson...

okay, this is the "bottom Tier 1 slash top Tier 2" performance...

did AI producers deliberately give us 3 good performers every week, and 1 maybe-good performer each week, so there'd be an obvious Top 12?

the judges are not happy with this...

Simon: i wish you HAD forgotten the lyrics...corny...

[even Randy agrees with "corny"...]

9:44: Next up: everyone's "favorite" contestant, Tatiana Del Toro...

Tatiana, who has obviously won the Nobel Prize multiple times, thinks it would be a great idea to sing Whitney tonite...i'm not sure "which Whitney song?" is a question on which we should waste our time, but the answer is: "Saving All My Love For You"

i'd call this a passable wedding-band performance, but i suspect this is the end -- HOLY SHIT! what was that note?

THIS IS THE END OF THE LINE FOR TATIANA!!!

FUCKING FINALLY!!!

and Randy is giving her props for "moments"...and Kara says "moments"...Paula and her meds can't wait for this show to be over -- she uses the word "beautiful" twice -- but not in reference to Tatiana's looks...Simon doesn't know what to make of her...

HOLY FUCKING SHIT -- SHE'S MAKING IT THROUGH, ISN'T SHE???

9:56: Last up tonite, and I hope they hit their mark, because I have this on DVR, is Danny Gokey...

seriously, "Hero", by Mariah??? seriously???

okay, here's the fourth member of Tier 1

yeah, that was good

both Paula and Kara give "Standing O"-s to this...

* * * * *

DHMBIB's quick insta-analysis coming in a few minutes...

* * * * *

Okay, let's remember the new rules this year: the Top (vote-getting) Female, the Top (vote-getting Male), and the next-highest vote-getter advance...and the judges will select three wildcard contestants from all three weeks...

Here is DHMBIB's insta-analysis from Semifinals Week 1 (asterisk indicates "should advance"; double-asterisk indicates "should be wildcard-worthy"):

1) Alexis Grace* -- far and away the best female performance of the nite, and on reflection the best overall performance of the nite
2) Anoop Desai* -- better than the judges gave him credit for
3) Danny Gokey*
4) Ricky Braddy**

[huge gap here]

[pick a name out of the hat -- does it matter?? -- Eds.]

5) Stephen Fowler
6) Tatiana Del Toro
7) Ann Marie Boskovich
8) Michael Sarver
9) Brent Keith
10) Jackie Tohn
11) Casey Carlson
12) Stevie Wright

* * * * *

after-show-ish: voting may or may not be closed in all time zones, but DialIdol is predicting this:

Women:

1) Alexis Grace

[no other woman is remotely even close...if you saw the show, you're not surprised to read that...]

Men:

1) Danny Gokey [safe]
2) Michael Sarver
3-5) Annop Desai; Ricky Braddy; Brent Keith [too close to call]
6) Stephen Fowler [gone]

* * * * *

"see" you tomorrow...