Well, that was interesting… I had high hopes for the ladies of season 11 on American Idol, and those expectations were only met by a few ladies. Five of our contenders gave very strong performances, and hopefully will make it through. The question is did those other ladies who left impressions ranging from interesting to there’s potential to bad and finally “oh hell no” make enough of a mark to squeeze into the top ten (or even a wild card spot). One thing is clear after watching these ladies (and so many blondes!). They need to work on their song choices. Oy vey! … Anyway, let’s take a look at tonight’s show and the women fighting to be this year’s American Idol.
American Idol Rankings 2/29/12- The Girls~
1. Jessica Sanchez: despite some supposed voice issues, Sanchez out sang everyone tonight on a fantastic version of Jennifer Hudson’s Oscar nominated song from Dreamgirls “Love You I Do”. Not only does she have fierce pipes, but she has incredible stage presence, a great personality and looks to spare. Hello, I’m crowning my current favorite in the competition and my early bet to win it all.
2. Skylar Lane: this girl is simply awesome. She’s like the little spitfire offspring of Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire and Gretchen Wilson, and she gave arguably the most entertaining performance of the night on her version of The Faces “Stay With Me”. Heading into the top 12, she was the country girl who I thought would have to fight the hardest to continue in the competition. I was wrong, she slayed the other two and is a sure bet to move forward. And hello, she’s probably the most likable girl in the running as well.
3. Erika Van Pelt: she took on a monster song in Heart’s 80′s smash “What About Love” (which, by the by, is one of my favorites of all time and I like to think I tear it up on doing karaoke) and nailed it. This mobile dj has a fantastic voice, great maturity, a wonderful personality and humility. She also can sang! I sure hope she goes far.
4. Hollie Cavanaugh: this cute 18-year-old blonde gave a very strong performance of Christina Aguilera’s debut hit from the film Mulan, “Reflection”. Attacking the power ballad, Hollie showed her big range. I just wish she had relaxed more. She has incredible potential and could go very far. I’m excited to see what she does in the competition. She’s in…. oh and is it me or is her accent like Irish-Texan. What is that?
5. Elise Testone: with the best version of Adele’s “One and Only” sung tonight, this blonde Jersey girl by way of South Carolina let her emotion get away with her tonight. But that display showed her vulnerability alongside her great husky voice and supreme artistry. She’s like Lady Gaga meets Adele with some Melissa Etheridge thrown in. I hope she makes it too.
6. Hallie Day: the girl who looks like a young blond Jeanne Tripplehorn has a really impressive instrument with those large vocals. She also gave an admirable performance of Nina Simone’s “Feelin’ Good” (which should have been retired from the Idol stage after Adam Lambert’s brilliant version in season 8 if you ask me). It was a good performance, but was it enough? Luckily, she’s a judges favorite and could be a wild card if she doesn’t immediately advance.
7. Jen Hirsch: with a decent vocal on Adele’s “One and Only”, Hirsch disappointed me a little. She was so good in Hollywood week, I had higher expectations. That said, she has a great voice. So, I hope she gets a shot at a wild card spot if she doesn’t advance as well.
8. Brielle Von Huegel: the most unlikable singer in the competition with the most horrifying stage mother actually surprised me tonight with her decent performance of Otis Redding’s classic “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay”. The song got better as it went along and she does have a good voice. However, her unlikability and the annoying factor will probably send her packing asap.
9. Chelsea Sorrell: poor girl had nerves for days and was unlucky to go first. What’s worse is she gave us a forgettable if decent version of Carrie Underwood’s # 1 country smash “Cowboy Casanova”. Luckily, three other ladies were worse.
10. Shannon Magrane: um, this was the most pandering, irritating and kinda disgusting Miss America doling out Christian BS performance I have ever seen. She went from a girl I thought had potential to the girl I despise the most in the top 24 (even more than Brielle). It’s like she turned into a little churchy robot girl. It was forced and uncomfortable and lacked believability. The only reason it’s not at the bottom of the list is because she sang Kathy Tricolli’s pop-Christian song “Go Light Your World” pretty well.
11. Bailey Brown: after the previous tirade, you may be surprised two women did even worse than Shannon, but they did. Faring slightly better was the ridiculously pretty Brown who was off pitch, flat and just plain boring on Lonestar’s #1 pop/country hit “Amazed”. This supposed front-runner is so out of the competition, it’s not even funny.
12. Haley Johnson: Um, what the heck was that? Why would you choose the Eurythmics’ early 80′s # 1 hit “Sweet Dreams” to show off your voice and then turn it into an incoherent off-key mess. Haley seems like a lovely girl and her previous footage from Hollywood week showed that she had a nice voice. I just have no idea where it was in this complete and utter disaster…
So, who’s moving on? Who’s heading home? And who could get a second chance wild card shot? Let’s take a look a my predictions….
Predictions~
Moving On for Sure: Jessica, Skylar, Hollie C.
Fighting for the last two spots (if not, they will definitely get to perform for a wild card spot): Erika, Elise, Hallie
Possibly fighting for the wild card: Jen, Brielle, Shannon (unless the red states just push her on through the first time, which, unfortunately could totally happen).
Buh Bye: Chelsea, Bailey, Haley
There ya have it~ my take on the ladies for the semi-finals. I now have my early favorite (Jessica) and four other ladies I would champion. However, I’m worried about what America will do. What do you think they will do? Who were your favorites? And wasn’t it refreshing to see the judges actually give some criticism tonight for once? Oh and why on Earth was there no African American girl? That’s just wrong… Sound off below and check back for my take on the unveiled Top 13 tomorrow night.
And here’s my underdog hopeful for the competition, Erika Van Pelt doing “What About Love”
Tags: Adam Lambert, American Idol, Brielle Von Huegel, Elise Testone, Erika Van Pelt, Hallie Day, Hollie Cavanaugh, Jen Hirsch, Jessica Sanchez, Skylar Lane
