March 7: The Yo Factor
American Idol 6, March 7: The Yo Factor by Jenn Brasler -- 03/08/2007 Usually the Idol judges are looking for a singer with the X factor, but now Randy thinks they should be looking for someone with the “yo factor.” Does Stephanie have it? Or is she in danger of being voted out? It’s time to decide which six girls will be advancing to the top 12. Ryan notes that we’re currently Paula-less. Paula’s babysitter apparently fell asleep on the job. Ryan has a weird turtleneck/suit jacket combo going on. He introduces the girls, then reminds us that tomorrow we’ll find out who’s in the top 12, as well as what the super top-secret “groundbreaking Idol project” is. Paula has made it on time, Simon says she was under the desk. Randy takes it a step farther and everyone yells that this is a family show. Jordin is starting us off tonight. The theme last night was “things people don’t know about me,” but tonight it’s “what I wanted to be when I was a kid.” Maybe they changed it so Antonella wouldn’t have to say, “Something most people don’t know about me is that sometimes I take my clothes off in front of cameras.” Jordin says that football is a huge part of her life (not surprising, considering who her dad is), and at one point she actually wanted to play, but singing won out. Jordin sings Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker.” I’m not sure I would have chosen this song if I were her. It’s a little fast for her, too. But she eventually wrestles it to the ground, rocking out like Gina and giving quite a show. I love her, so I don’t even care what the judges have to say about her. Randy: The girls put on a completely different show than the guys. This wasn’t Jordin’s best performance, but it was still “dope” and better than the guys’ stuff last night. Paula: Jordin has a lot of energy and is better every week. She’ll be here for a long time. Simon: He’s not quite as enthusiastic; it was manic and a little shrieky in the middle. But Jordin did well and shows personality, and she’ll be here next week. Still, it wasn’t her best performance. Ryan asks Jordin how excited she is. She says she can hardly contain herself. She crouches again to be Ryan’s height. Everyone laughs and she innocently says, “What?” Hee. Gina and Sabrina are in the red room with Ryan, who reminds us that Carrie Underwood will stop by tomorrow night. He says that the girls have been getting a lot of praise as a group. Gina thinks that’s a good thing; they feed off of each other’s energy and talent. Sabrina says everyone’s nervous because they all know what’s at stake, but they’re going to have fun and leave everything up to God and America. Sabrina’s up next, and she used to want to be Katie Couric. She hosted a TV show in school, but she’s glad she’s with singing now because she’s not the next Ryan Seacrest. Sabrina sings En Vogue’s “Don’t Let Go,” and she sounds a little like Whitney Houston at the beginning. She has some trouble with the song and gets sharp and shouty. I really like Sabrina, but I think her lack of TV exposure might ultimately hurt her. She was so strong in the first week, but she hasn’t been able to hold onto that. Randy: Not his favorite performance of hers, but it was still good. She picks good songs, but he would have liked something with more melody. Paula: Sabrina can obviously sing and has a gorgeous voice. Simon: She’s a great singer, but her performance didn’t have the same emotion as her competitors, namely LaKisha (now with a capital K!), Melinda, and Stephanie. It reminded him of a hotel resort performance. Sabrina needs to inject personality because her voice will only take her so far. This was a little too mechanical. Ryan asks if Sabrina deserves to be in the top 12. The judges all say yes. I agree, but she needs to work a little harder. Antonella is next. She’s played the violin since she was five, but she hasn’t played as much in college. She does teach lessons when she’s home during the summer. Having completely ignored the unspoken rule about not singing current popular songs, Antonella butchers Corinne Bailey Ray’s “Put Your Records On.” Thanks, Antonella. I really liked that song. Her runs sound good, but that’s about it. She doesn’t have the sweetness in her tone that Corinne Bailey Ray does, so it doesn’t work for me. Randy: It was a pretty good song choice and had a nice ending, but it was pitchy in the middle. He’s not sure Antonella believes herself. Just an okay performance. Paula: It was the right song choice and in her range, but the bottom notes were trouble. Simon: After a long pause, Simon says Antonella has gone as far as she can go. (Please.) She’s surrounded by a lot of talented girls, and he doesn’t know how much more she can do because her voice probably won’t get any better. Simon becomes the first person to mention the media backlash, praising Antonella for the way she’s handled everything. This wasn’t her worst performance, but he wishes she could sing better. Ryan asks if Antonella feels like she deserves to be in the final 12. She says no, giving us all a free pass to vote for her. Just kidding! She says yes, and she wishes she weren’t compared to anyone else. Then stop singing current songs. Antonella says they’re all different and unique. Simon says no one’s being critical for the sake of being critical. Randy adds that it’s a singing competition. Paula shushes everyone. Up next is Haley, who says she was a gymnast from the ages of five to 15. Then her body started giving out and she had to quit. She started singing and realized that it was what she really loved. Haley sings Faith Hill’s “If My Heart Had Wings.” It’s much better than last week, but still not as good as what we’ve heard from a lot of the other girls in the competition. Her voice isn’t big enough for this song. It’s a shame, because she does have a nice voice, but I don’t see her going much farther than this. Randy: Very interesting song choice at this point in the competition, but this is who Haley is, apparently. It wasn’t that exciting and didn’t have pizzazz, “no, like, yo.” I need a Randy-to-English dictionary. Paula: Paula agrees that this is the sort of artist Haley is. It wasn’t their favorite, but she sang well. Simon: It was horrible, like a high-school musical performance. He admits that he told Paula halfway through the song that he doesn’t even know Haley’s name. Of course, he called Brandon “Travis” last night, so Simon isn’t that great with names anyway. Haley hasn’t made an impression, and this didn’t help. Ryan asks how difficult it is to sing and then have that kind of criticism. Haley says she’s gotten bad comments every week. Still, she has to clock in and do her job. Paula says she hasn’t always gotten bad comments. Haley says Simon doesn’t like her. He pro-*test*-('")s that he does, it’s just that other people are better. Ryan asks what Haley’s chances are of making the top 12. Paula says it’s anyone’s game. Except not Haley’s. Stephanie has been singing since she was three, but only in front of her parents. They would ask her to sing at parties, but she was so shy that she would run to her room and cry. She thinks people find it strange that she’s so comfortable on stage now. Stephanie sings Mary J. Blige’s “Sweet Thing,” doing that old trick of putting it in too low of a key so she can reach the high notes. It’s okay, and I wish Stephanie would go back to the way she was in the first week - really wowing everyone. This is just average for her; we know she can do much better. I’m worried she won’t make enough of an impression to get the votes to stick around. (On a purely superficial note, cute dress!) Randy: Stephanie gets an A for effort. He heard Chaka at the beginning, but this wasn’t that great. Paula: Paula thinks Stephanie was “darn near flawless” but needs to watch her tempo. She has a beautiful voice and great showmanship (showwomanship?). Simon: Stephanie is definitely one of the best, but she has a tendency to copycat a little. She needs to find her individuality instead. However, he’s sure she’s done well enough to make it to the final 12. Ryan says it comes down to the “yo factor,” as Randy calls it. Randy says she has it, but she needs to watch her song choices. Back in the red room, Ryan says we need some LaKisha to bring up the energy. LaKisha asks for a hug and Ryan is happy to oblige. She tells us that something crazy about her is that she’s scared of animals. What the heck is the theme this week? LaKisha brings the Whitney the way it’s supposed to be brought, with “I Have Nothing.” She has Sanjaya hair. It’s a typical fabulous LaKisha performance; I think it’s better than last week’s. I notice that the background singers are barely singing, which is interesting. She doesn’t really need them, you know? Randy: It may not have been her best performance, but it was still great. Paula: LaKisha has already made everyone love her, and she doesn’t have to worry about going anywhere. Simon: She brought passion, talent, and believability for the first time tonight. She also listened to Simon about fashion choices. Her dress is nice and kind of flattering. Ryan’s in the audience with LaKisha’s mom and aunt; he thinks they need their own show. They’re LaKisha’s own little cheering section. The girls are having a pillow fight with Ryan in the red room. Well, they’re mostly just throwing pillows at him, which is also fun. Gina is up next, and she’s a little nervous. She would rather not have Ryan remind her of what’s at stake. They share some cute banter before she shares some lucky charms with her. She has a tiny troll doll she keeps in her pocket, and a stuffed green… thing that she calls Pickle. She also has a pillow with pictures of her niece and nephew on it. Awww. Gina tries to rock out to Evanescence’s “Call Me When You’re Sober.” Let’s just say she’s not Amy Lee. It’s off-key and shouty, and not a good song to pick when you’re trying to showcase your singing voice. Not a good song choice or a good performance. It would have been better on Rock Star. Now I’m picturing Gina rocking out on Rock Star. I’m going to replace Zayra with her in my memory. Randy: Finally Gina has shown her real self. She had some pitch problems, but he likes that she’s finally doing what she should be doing, keeping the edge alive. “Keep the yo going!” he says. Paula: She agrees that this is more or less who she thought Gina would be. Paula warns her not to over-sing. Simon: Simon can tell Gina enjoyed that. He says it was the first time he saw her looking comfortable. This was the girl they wanted in this stage of the competition. She screamed a little, but Simon hopes she makes it through to next week because she’s a breath of fresh air. If she chooses better, more melodic songs, she can do really well. He hopes the song wasn’t too much for the audience. Gina talks more about how she loved rocking out. Ryan notes that her boyfriend has Pickle on his chest. That’s a weird sentence to type. Last but never, ever least is Melinda. She says some of her friends think she has a touch of OCD, but she calls it “equal opportunity.” It sounds to me like OCD, actually. But whatever. Melinda sings Peggy Lee’s “I’m a Woman.” I can’t say enough good things about it. It’s like if Aretha sang it. I’m going to have to say it’s her best performance yet. Great vocals, great performing, lots of energy, and huge fun. I heart Melinda! Randy: The audience loves Melinda because she’s the hot-*test*-('") of the night and a consummate pro. She’s ready to go straight to a studio and make a record. Paula: Paula asks if Melinda ever thought she’d be up on stage getting this kind of feedback. She can’t wait to see what Melinda will do every week. Simon: “You little tiger,” he purrs. “I thought we had a pussy cat.” Must… not… make… Antonella… joke. Simon says it’s nice that she’s loving it. He also totally blasts Jennifer Hudson for her comment about Idol being a “stepping stone,” because it’s always all about Simon. Ryan asks Melinda if she’s ready for the top 12. She’s still very meek, and he tells her not to be nervous. If anyone here has a reason to not worry about tomorrow night, it’s Melinda. She’s definitely not going anywhere. After watching the recap, I have to say that Antonella and Haley were the weakest of the night. I’m sure Haley won’t make it past tomorrow night, but I’m still iffy on Antonella. After all, she got this far when she arguably shouldn’t have. I’m worried that Stephanie will be sacrificed again so that the Antonella scandal can live on for another week. I’ll tempt fate by predicting that Antonella and Haley will be cut tomorrow night. Tune in tomorrow to find out if I’m right!
American Idol 6, March 7: The Yo Factor by Jenn Brasler -- 03/08/2007 Usually the Idol judges are looking for a singer with the X factor, but now Randy thinks they should be looking for someone with the “yo factor.” Does Stephanie have it? Or is she in danger of being voted out? It’s time to decide which six girls will be advancing to the top 12. Ryan notes that we’re currently Paula-less. Paula’s babysitter apparently fell asleep on the job. Ryan has a weird turtleneck/suit jacket combo going on. He introduces the girls, then reminds us that tomorrow we’ll find out who’s in the top 12, as well as what the super top-secret “groundbreaking Idol project” is. Paula has made it on time, Simon says she was under the desk. Randy takes it a step farther and everyone yells that this is a family show. Jordin is starting us off tonight. The theme last night was “things people don’t know about me,” but tonight it’s “what I wanted to be when I was a kid.” Maybe they changed it so Antonella wouldn’t have to say, “Something most people don’t know about me is that sometimes I take my clothes off in front of cameras.” Jordin says that football is a huge part of her life (not surprising, considering who her dad is), and at one point she actually wanted to play, but singing won out. Jordin sings Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker.” I’m not sure I would have chosen this song if I were her. It’s a little fast for her, too. But she eventually wrestles it to the ground, rocking out like Gina and giving quite a show. I love her, so I don’t even care what the judges have to say about her. Randy: The girls put on a completely different show than the guys. This wasn’t Jordin’s best performance, but it was still “dope” and better than the guys’ stuff last night. Paula: Jordin has a lot of energy and is better every week. She’ll be here for a long time. Simon: He’s not quite as enthusiastic; it was manic and a little shrieky in the middle. But Jordin did well and shows personality, and she’ll be here next week. Still, it wasn’t her best performance. Ryan asks Jordin how excited she is. She says she can hardly contain herself. She crouches again to be Ryan’s height. Everyone laughs and she innocently says, “What?” Hee. Gina and Sabrina are in the red room with Ryan, who reminds us that Carrie Underwood will stop by tomorrow night. He says that the girls have been getting a lot of praise as a group. Gina thinks that’s a good thing; they feed off of each other’s energy and talent. Sabrina says everyone’s nervous because they all know what’s at stake, but they’re going to have fun and leave everything up to God and America. Sabrina’s up next, and she used to want to be Katie Couric. She hosted a TV show in school, but she’s glad she’s with singing now because she’s not the next Ryan Seacrest. Sabrina sings En Vogue’s “Don’t Let Go,” and she sounds a little like Whitney Houston at the beginning. She has some trouble with the song and gets sharp and shouty. I really like Sabrina, but I think her lack of TV exposure might ultimately hurt her. She was so strong in the first week, but she hasn’t been able to hold onto that. Randy: Not his favorite performance of hers, but it was still good. She picks good songs, but he would have liked something with more melody. Paula: Sabrina can obviously sing and has a gorgeous voice. Simon: She’s a great singer, but her performance didn’t have the same emotion as her competitors, namely LaKisha (now with a capital K!), Melinda, and Stephanie. It reminded him of a hotel resort performance. Sabrina needs to inject personality because her voice will only take her so far. This was a little too mechanical. Ryan asks if Sabrina deserves to be in the top 12. The judges all say yes. I agree, but she needs to work a little harder. Antonella is next. She’s played the violin since she was five, but she hasn’t played as much in college. She does teach lessons when she’s home during the summer. Having completely ignored the unspoken rule about not singing current popular songs, Antonella butchers Corinne Bailey Ray’s “Put Your Records On.” Thanks, Antonella. I really liked that song. Her runs sound good, but that’s about it. She doesn’t have the sweetness in her tone that Corinne Bailey Ray does, so it doesn’t work for me. Randy: It was a pretty good song choice and had a nice ending, but it was pitchy in the middle. He’s not sure Antonella believes herself. Just an okay performance. Paula: It was the right song choice and in her range, but the bottom notes were trouble. Simon: After a long pause, Simon says Antonella has gone as far as she can go. (Please.) She’s surrounded by a lot of talented girls, and he doesn’t know how much more she can do because her voice probably won’t get any better. Simon becomes the first person to mention the media backlash, praising Antonella for the way she’s handled everything. This wasn’t her worst performance, but he wishes she could sing better. Ryan asks if Antonella feels like she deserves to be in the final 12. She says no, giving us all a free pass to vote for her. Just kidding! She says yes, and she wishes she weren’t compared to anyone else. Then stop singing current songs. Antonella says they’re all different and unique. Simon says no one’s being critical for the sake of being critical. Randy adds that it’s a singing competition. Paula shushes everyone. Up next is Haley, who says she was a gymnast from the ages of five to 15. Then her body started giving out and she had to quit. She started singing and realized that it was what she really loved. Haley sings Faith Hill’s “If My Heart Had Wings.” It’s much better than last week, but still not as good as what we’ve heard from a lot of the other girls in the competition. Her voice isn’t big enough for this song. It’s a shame, because she does have a nice voice, but I don’t see her going much farther than this. Randy: Very interesting song choice at this point in the competition, but this is who Haley is, apparently. It wasn’t that exciting and didn’t have pizzazz, “no, like, yo.” I need a Randy-to-English dictionary. Paula: Paula agrees that this is the sort of artist Haley is. It wasn’t their favorite, but she sang well. Simon: It was horrible, like a high-school musical performance. He admits that he told Paula halfway through the song that he doesn’t even know Haley’s name. Of course, he called Brandon “Travis” last night, so Simon isn’t that great with names anyway. Haley hasn’t made an impression, and this didn’t help. Ryan asks how difficult it is to sing and then have that kind of criticism. Haley says she’s gotten bad comments every week. Still, she has to clock in and do her job. Paula says she hasn’t always gotten bad comments. Haley says Simon doesn’t like her. He pro-*test*-('")s that he does, it’s just that other people are better. Ryan asks what Haley’s chances are of making the top 12. Paula says it’s anyone’s game. Except not Haley’s. Stephanie has been singing since she was three, but only in front of her parents. They would ask her to sing at parties, but she was so shy that she would run to her room and cry. She thinks people find it strange that she’s so comfortable on stage now. Stephanie sings Mary J. Blige’s “Sweet Thing,” doing that old trick of putting it in too low of a key so she can reach the high notes. It’s okay, and I wish Stephanie would go back to the way she was in the first week - really wowing everyone. This is just average for her; we know she can do much better. I’m worried she won’t make enough of an impression to get the votes to stick around. (On a purely superficial note, cute dress!) Randy: Stephanie gets an A for effort. He heard Chaka at the beginning, but this wasn’t that great. Paula: Paula thinks Stephanie was “darn near flawless” but needs to watch her tempo. She has a beautiful voice and great showmanship (showwomanship?). Simon: Stephanie is definitely one of the best, but she has a tendency to copycat a little. She needs to find her individuality instead. However, he’s sure she’s done well enough to make it to the final 12. Ryan says it comes down to the “yo factor,” as Randy calls it. Randy says she has it, but she needs to watch her song choices. Back in the red room, Ryan says we need some LaKisha to bring up the energy. LaKisha asks for a hug and Ryan is happy to oblige. She tells us that something crazy about her is that she’s scared of animals. What the heck is the theme this week? LaKisha brings the Whitney the way it’s supposed to be brought, with “I Have Nothing.” She has Sanjaya hair. It’s a typical fabulous LaKisha performance; I think it’s better than last week’s. I notice that the background singers are barely singing, which is interesting. She doesn’t really need them, you know? Randy: It may not have been her best performance, but it was still great. Paula: LaKisha has already made everyone love her, and she doesn’t have to worry about going anywhere. Simon: She brought passion, talent, and believability for the first time tonight. She also listened to Simon about fashion choices. Her dress is nice and kind of flattering. Ryan’s in the audience with LaKisha’s mom and aunt; he thinks they need their own show. They’re LaKisha’s own little cheering section. The girls are having a pillow fight with Ryan in the red room. Well, they’re mostly just throwing pillows at him, which is also fun. Gina is up next, and she’s a little nervous. She would rather not have Ryan remind her of what’s at stake. They share some cute banter before she shares some lucky charms with her. She has a tiny troll doll she keeps in her pocket, and a stuffed green… thing that she calls Pickle. She also has a pillow with pictures of her niece and nephew on it. Awww. Gina tries to rock out to Evanescence’s “Call Me When You’re Sober.” Let’s just say she’s not Amy Lee. It’s off-key and shouty, and not a good song to pick when you’re trying to showcase your singing voice. Not a good song choice or a good performance. It would have been better on Rock Star. Now I’m picturing Gina rocking out on Rock Star. I’m going to replace Zayra with her in my memory. Randy: Finally Gina has shown her real self. She had some pitch problems, but he likes that she’s finally doing what she should be doing, keeping the edge alive. “Keep the yo going!” he says. Paula: She agrees that this is more or less who she thought Gina would be. Paula warns her not to over-sing. Simon: Simon can tell Gina enjoyed that. He says it was the first time he saw her looking comfortable. This was the girl they wanted in this stage of the competition. She screamed a little, but Simon hopes she makes it through to next week because she’s a breath of fresh air. If she chooses better, more melodic songs, she can do really well. He hopes the song wasn’t too much for the audience. Gina talks more about how she loved rocking out. Ryan notes that her boyfriend has Pickle on his chest. That’s a weird sentence to type. Last but never, ever least is Melinda. She says some of her friends think she has a touch of OCD, but she calls it “equal opportunity.” It sounds to me like OCD, actually. But whatever. Melinda sings Peggy Lee’s “I’m a Woman.” I can’t say enough good things about it. It’s like if Aretha sang it. I’m going to have to say it’s her best performance yet. Great vocals, great performing, lots of energy, and huge fun. I heart Melinda! Randy: The audience loves Melinda because she’s the hot-*test*-('") of the night and a consummate pro. She’s ready to go straight to a studio and make a record. Paula: Paula asks if Melinda ever thought she’d be up on stage getting this kind of feedback. She can’t wait to see what Melinda will do every week. Simon: “You little tiger,” he purrs. “I thought we had a pussy cat.” Must… not… make… Antonella… joke. Simon says it’s nice that she’s loving it. He also totally blasts Jennifer Hudson for her comment about Idol being a “stepping stone,” because it’s always all about Simon. Ryan asks Melinda if she’s ready for the top 12. She’s still very meek, and he tells her not to be nervous. If anyone here has a reason to not worry about tomorrow night, it’s Melinda. She’s definitely not going anywhere. After watching the recap, I have to say that Antonella and Haley were the weakest of the night. I’m sure Haley won’t make it past tomorrow night, but I’m still iffy on Antonella. After all, she got this far when she arguably shouldn’t have. I’m worried that Stephanie will be sacrificed again so that the Antonella scandal can live on for another week. I’ll tempt fate by predicting that Antonella and Haley will be cut tomorrow night. Tune in tomorrow to find out if I’m right!