Idol Chit-Chat
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Tuesday, February 27, 2007

The Top 10 Guys: "This time it's personal..."

So after last week’s boring performances, the guys really needed to step it up. And most of them did.

But even if all of the performances were not fantastic, the show was definitely entertaining as the judges were in rare form—though I could’ve done without those sappy dedications.

But as Ryan ominously said at the beginning, “This time it’s personal”…

Here are my thoughts on our top 10 guys…

Phil Stacey, “Missing You”: 17
He actually got the first note right for a change. But as good of a song choice as it was, it still didn’t completely work for me since I thought he needed to show a little more emotion. The ending, however, was good.

Jared Cotter, “Let’s Get It On”: 14
He dedicated that song to his parents? For some reason, Jared is just not connecting with me as I thought the song was blah until the end.

A.J. Tabaldo, “Feeling Good”: 15
His dancing was cheesy, but the upbeat part of the song was really not that bad. He hasn’t really connected with me either, though.

Sanjaya Malakar, “Steppin’ Out”: 11
His voice is still gorgeous, but only he could make a song like that sound blah. However, his dedication to his grandmother may save him.

Chris Sligh, “Trouble”: 19
Other than Chris’ tendency to slur his words, this song was gorgeous.

Nick Pedro, “Fever”: 18
I really liked this, but he missed those notes in the middle. If he had hit them all, I may have given him a perfect score.

Blake Lewis, “Virtual Insanity”: 17
It was a good song choice, but I’m not sure he really nailed it.

Brandon Rogers, “Time After Time”: 14
I liked this arrangement, but he didn’t do it justice. And what was up with those weird hand gestures?

Chris Richardson, “Geek In the Pink”: 17
For some reason I wasn’t as completely enthralled with this one as the judges were. Maybe it’s because I don’t like Jason Mraz. The chorus was really good, but he missed that verse.
Sundance Head, “Mustang Sally”: 18
Yes, Sundance is back, but for some reason, I didn’t enjoy him as much as I did Chris. Maybe I’d already given up on him.

So, who’s going home? Well, clearly Sanjaya should, but whether he will is another story. I still have a feeling he’s another Kevin Covais in the making—especially with his argument that he sang that song for his grandmother. As for the other person who should go, for me, it’s a toss-up between Jared and Brandon. Jared gave an average performance of a song he could have done so much more with and Brandon gave an average performance of a really good arrangement. I have to agree with Simon that Brandon’s “feeling it” story just didn’t cut it.

The secret to this episode was to pick the right song and then dedicate it to someone like Chris R. did, not to connect the dedication with the song as Sanjaya and Brandon did. We’ll see tomorrow which one the girls do…

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