IdolPhenomena

The people over at I Can Dream just posted Alex recording his demo for a song Dream With My Eyes Open. Check It Followers ;-)

The results of a petition to have Alex back on Idol leads him to a new Reality TV show. Alex Lambert joins the If I Can Dream cast. He moves in this coming Thursday with a new style unfortunately to those fans that loved the mullet he has cut it all off. Check out the article here in the LA Times. If I Can Dream was also another one of Simon Fuller's and 19 Entertainments creations.







Check out the If I Can Dream Official Site here. Will he fit in with the rest of the housemates. That includes Giglianne Braga, Justin Gaston, Amanda Phillips, Benjamin Elliot and Kara Killmer. Check out episodes on hulu.

Dear America,

First I would like to start off by saying what were you thinking? Really we lost four amazingly talented people tonight. I’m going to say that we at IdolPhenomena are shocked. I like how I make it seem that I am more than one person too ;-). I totally tweet throughout each show if I am and not working. – Because I do work the man. 3 12 hour days on and 3 days off. Sounds fun right- not so much. But thank technology for DVR :-)

So tonight started off with another cheesy group number. I don’t think the group numbers have ever impressed me in a long time. I feel like the last time I was impressed was back around Season 4 and 5. Rolling Stones as a theme for next week I wonder how that will turn out? To start the only thing I got right in terms of predictions was that Didi Benami would be the first girl to make the Top 12. So congratulations to her. Then it was Siobhan Magnus with the second seat so far I agree. Up next Paige vs. Katelyn for the third chair. At this point I was totally rooting for Katelyn however out of nowhere Paige gets the seat. And I start thinking damn you VTFW.

Okay now for the first set of guys to go through. They start with Tim’s results and move down the line all the way to Casey who we find out is the first person to be safe. Then the next person safe is Tim and I’m thinking wtf America really. Next to make the top 12 is one of my favs Lee DeWyze. Todrick gets cut and to quote @SharonWilbur, “Todrick sang his tushy off” with his last performance of Somebody to Love.

Now we hear from tonight’s special guests who were season 8 contestants Matt Giraud and Scott McIntyre. Together they performed an incredible rendition of Tell Her about It. It was absolutely amazing. Check out Scott’s CD on his website and on iTunes. I am excited that Matt is currently working on and EP can’t wait for it to come out.

And now on to more cuts and tears. Crystal- Safe, Mike- Safe, Lacey- Safe, Aaron- Safe. Now for the guys it’s down to Alex Lambert and Andrew Garcia. Both of whom I think should continue on. I do feel that Alex needs more confidence and Andrew did peek too early in the competition. I am sad as we find out that we are saying goodbye to Alex Lambert tonight. To keep Tim Urban and not Alex something is wrong with America. I personally loved @LukeEdgemon ‘s tweet where he thinks it would be a good idea to sneak on set and knock Tim out with Alex’s ukulele and give Alex Tim’s seat--- too funny. I felt so bad for Alex it looks like he cried a ton.

Here comes the biggest holy f-word. Between Katie and Lilly I felt both should go on. So here I am at home with some fellow tweeters pushing for a Top 13-LOL. But unfortunately we say goodbye to the talented and original Lilly Scott.

America I wish I could understand where you are coming from but I still don’t. I feel like you watch this show with cotton in your ears. Do you even care that this is a singing contest… that has the goal of finding the next big artist in the U.S. I don’t think you do. As we move into next week I hope we start to agree more.

So only considering tonight's verdict. I am going to make a thought provoking prediction. Then as we get closer to the Top 5 I will be proved right or incredibly. I am going to go with incredibly wrong but this is what I foresee as this years Top 3. With no rhyme or reason this is what it will be. Our Final contestants will be Cyrstal Bowersox vs. Katie Stevens with Michael Lynche being cut during the Top 3 results show. I still feel it will be a girls year. While I maul the idea of who I feel the winner will be I still need to factor in Siobhan Magnus as the dark horse who may surprise us all.

So we started off tonight with a twist. After expecting to have the girls take the stage once again we actually got to see the Top 10 Guys perform tonight. It was revealed that the lineup change was due to Crystal Bowersox being rushed to the hospital earlier that day. Hopefully everything is okay and I know her fans everywhere are praying she’s okay to take the stage this Wednesday night.

Tonight each of the contestants share a little about them and first up tonight is Big Mike (Michael Lynche). Tonight we find out that he went to a performing arts high school but still made time for football. We also find out that he can bench about 3-4 Ryan Seacrest’s depending if Ryan’s wearing a suit or not-LOL. Tonight he has chosen to sing James Brown’s It’s a Man’s World. This performance is 10X better than last week. It definitely showcased his vocal ability he will definitely be sailing through to next week. Randy stood up after this performance and was excited that this season is finally really getting started. Ellen has loved every song he has chosen and believes he will be the one to beat tonight. And both Kara and Simon believe that he has gone from singer to artist tonight.

The second performance of the night was John Park with John Mayer’s Gravity. This song is definitely more relevant than the song he chose last week. As for the guys performances tonight I am definitely impressed with two down and eight more to go. J. However, the judges definitely saw it differently. Randy felt that it was not as good as the original. Kara believed it was safe and wants to see him take some risks and Simon thinks that Purple Haze will have their singer. For those of you who don’t know, Purple Haze is an a capella group John is in back home. In contrast Ellen feels that it was the right song choice.

Casey James who wowed us last week tackled Gavin Degraw’s I Don’t Wanna Be. Performed by idols such as Bo Bice and Chris Richardson he had big shoes to fill. In terms of a performance it was amazing what he did on the guitar. However in reality this being a singing competition the vocal wasn’t all there. Randy felt that this is the type of musical genre he could see Casey recording. Ellen felt that “everything on paper” was there. However Kara and Simon thought he took two steps back and that this was another one of those performances where someone who was trying to be a rock star.

Tonight Alex Lambert choosing to perform John Legend’s Everybody Knows. As we learn something about him he shares with us that he has made up his own language that helps him write music. I am sad to admit that I am an Alex Lambert fan, as to why I have no idea. Tonight he was indeed better than last week but he does have a lot of work ahead of him. Randy shares my view as tonight being improvement to last week. Kara feels he has an incredible recording voice that he doesn’t know what to do with and Simon feels he was a million times better than last week. Ellen references the banana again when she says it’s almost as if someone has taken the unripe banana and placed it in a paper bag.

Todrick Hall takes the stage performing Tina Turner’s What’s Love Got To Do With It. He tells us that he wasn’t going to change the song up too much and what does he do? I feel like he lied to us tonight about his performance. I feel just as ripped off as those kids he was supposed to be doing some program for. I can’t help but think that he still a dancer trying to sing. Randy wants him to sing a nice song. Ellen shares his sentiment with agreeing that it wasn’t the right song. Kara wants to know what happened to Todrick and Simon wants him to move but not sing. I as well want to know what happened to that unique talent that walked into his audition with a great voice and original tune. He needs to recapture that. I am crossing my fingers that he makes it to next week because I feel he will definitely bring it.

Jermaine was up next rockin’ the onesie??? He chose Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. A great song in its own right however the only thing I liked about Jermaine’s performance is his vocal acrobatics. Overall he definitely did not have it tonight. Kara feels just one trick would mean enough. Simon doesn’t want him to water down the songs and Ellen feels he has a great sense of style. Do I sense going in his future???

Up next was Andrew Garcia who notably gave one of the best Hollywood performances with his acoustic performance of Paula Abdul’s Straight Up. However since then he hasn’t been able to recapture the magic. Tonight he chose to perform Jim Morrison’s You Give Me Something. I liked the fact he was taking a risk by not accompanying himself with his guitar, however I was disappointed again. I expect so much more from him. On a brighter note I felt that while he was singing that part, “You wanna stay with me until the morning,” every girl in America has like heck yeah I do-LOL. J Andrew definitely deserves to stay and I hope America gives him that chance. Randy didn’t get the performance while Kara see’s potential. And like Me Ellen misses the guy that performed Straight Up.

Tonight Aaron Kelly instead of choosing something current tackles something from the past with the Temptations My Girl. All I can say is hmmmm… and what did they say about Justin Bieber. Randy felt that it was definitely better than last week and Ellen felt he was likeable. Aaron will definitely be around for a while.

Up next is Tim Urban who they felt they made the right decision last week in Hollywood to cut based on his performance of Apologize. I just feel that this competition isn’t the right thing for him and I can’t help but be disappointed. I am also curious as to how the guys would be if Chris Golightly were there. Every time I see Tim I think horrible much?

Lee closed out the night with another incredible performance. Taking on Hinders Lips of an Angel. He definitely was passionate tonight and I liked the risk he took by not using his guitar. You could tell he was kind of nervous though. Randy like the performance despite the pitch problems and Ellen felt it was great. Kara saw it as a big improvement from last week. Surprisingly Simon believes that vocally Lee is the one to beat. He just needs to believe in himself. From day one I have been a Lee Dewyze fan, he is totally in my top 5. J

As to which guys I foresee going home this week I feel we are going to say goodbye to Tim Urban and Jermaine Sellers. I can’t for Wednesday night to find out how much growth the girls have made in a week.

Okay finally we’ve had a chance to see all Top 24 contestants perform. And I don’t know if you were as disappointed as I am but I expected so much more. The vocals overall are just there people are pitchy and constantly picking the wrong song. Since I wasn’t able to watch the show as it aired to the East Coast tonight I had to ignore all the tweeters that I normally chat with during the performances tonight so I could give my honest opinion about tonight. However, I feel like I would agree with many of them.

Tonight started off with 24 yr old Todrick Hall from Arlington, TX. His initial audition was amazing and then in Hollywood week he has a rocky group round. However, tonight he sang Kelly Clarkson’s Since You Been Gone. Ellen said the chorus was rough and that he wasn’t the best singer but a good performer. Randy followed that up with expressing how he didn’t even know what song he was singing. He then advised Todrick not to completely obliterate the songs he chooses. Kara assured him he was a strong singer and that he did not to change a song as much as he did. Simon felt he was a dancer trying to sing who murdered the original song and was on the verge of being stupid. In my opening Todrick’s performance was a bit catchy and original. I personally was just unsure how to feel about it. It just made see like I was going to be in for a long night. Yay for being creative here, right Ryan?

Up next was 16 yr old Aaron Kelly from Sonestown, PA. He belief that his most defining moment is when he forgot the word Hollywood Week while singing Angel. His experience on idol so far seems to be surreal and dream like. His rendition of Here Comes Goodbye by The Rascal Flatts was very good and this time he remembered all his lyrics. He definitely hit some great high notes. Overall Simon felt it was a good performance however Randy felt that it had pitchy moments and that he needs to believe in himself. Ellen expressed the same feelings and said she loved how humble he is. Aaron is definitely another young contestant with an amazing voice and great potential.

Jermaine Sellers was the third performer of the night. This church singer from Joliet, IL through the band under the bus during Hollywood Week for not playing the music the way they had planned. Most noted for his diva move surrounding that incident he definitely was one of the worst performances of the night. Ellen loved his look and expressed that he pushed the song too much. Randy again expressed the need to sing the Melody especially for an Oleta Adams song Get Here. Kara believed that Jermaine attempted to show everyone what he could do by showcasing his range. Is this the judge’s panel way of telling the contestant politely that they suck??? This performance totally my ears cringe and think that someone somewhere was killing a cat. I was also under the impression that what he was singing was nowhere near the key of where the band was playing.

Up next was Tim Urban who replaced Chris GoLightly in the Top 24. First off I can’t believe that he didn’t tell his family that he going to Hollywood after being cut. So he sang and awkward rendition of One Republic’s Apologize. Throughout the whole performance I wasn’t sure if he was singing in tune. It appeared almost as if he were singing in a different key than the band was playing in. My prediction is that he won’t make it past this Thursday night. Simon starts off by saying that they were right to have made their decision to initially have cut him. –OUCH! Kara than says that it’s almost as if the music it ate him up that his vocal was buried under the instrumentation. This is quickly followed with another wrong song dude from Randy. And Ellen gets slightly critical and says that he wasn’t able to hit the high notes but on the plus side you are adorable. This is followed by Ryan proceeding to ask Tim why he chose this song and the answer is simply because it was fun to perform. That’s a whole good two or three minutes of my life I won’t ever get back I definitely did not have fun.

Up next was Joe Munoz. I have never been sure how to feel about this contestant simply because he has not had a lot of air time. However this 20 yr old student from Huntington Park, CA really surprised me. Compared to most of the performances before him this one was actually half way decent. Ellen is pleased with his performance and proceeds to say that he belongs there in the top 24. Kara, like myself agrees that Joe is the best singer so far that we’ve seen all night. Randy agrees and then Simon has to oh so bold to say that his song choice was okay that it was safe and forgettable. Will no one please him tonight?

Tyler Grady hits the stage next. I am still amused by the what planet are you from remark Kara says in the montage? He definitely can sing and American Women in my opinion was safe for him. Simon said that Tyler’s performance would be remembered because it reminded him of some pretending to be a rock star. Also this cliché performance screamed Jim Morrison all up in your room as Kara said. Also Ellen states that his performance lacks charisma and Randy wants to see something with more substance. Ryan’s words of wisdom for Tyler are to take a trip to the mall to get rid of the 70s vibe.

Next was Lee DeWyze who has been one of my favorites throughout the competition. This 23 yr old Chicago, IL native chose to sing Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. This is definitely not something I would have chosen for his voice type by it was still good. I love the tone to his voice. Ellen seemed to think he chose a good song and agrees that he has a good tone to his voice. Like Ellen Randy also is a fan of Lee’s voice. Kara said that the songs range limited him to what he could do vocally even though he did attempt to make parts of the song his own they became unrecognizable. But would like to thank Simone for dubbing this the best performance of the night cause I could not agree more about how authentic Lee sounds vocally. So Ryan proceeds to ask Lee how he feels performing in front of millions of people and his answer is that he wants to have this same exact feeling the rest of his life.

John Park is up next singing God Bless the Child definitely wrong song to chose. I was just not impressed. This performance was given a whole lot of you haven’t the voice to sing this, old and all out of sort, and the classic wish you would have chosen another song. He tells the viewers that he chose this song because of his parents and money –awkward much???

Michael Lynche is up next performing This Love by Maroon 5. At one point in his performance it almost appeared as if he were eating the mic, I’m just sayin. Why must tonight’s contestants continue to deviate from the melody? All of these songs were made popular because of their melodies. Ellen starts off by saying that his performance was infectious and that it displayed his personality. But the general consensus is that his performance was safe and that his personality is overpowering his vocals. And oh yeah this just happens to be a singing competition and not a personality competition-LOL. My favorite judge’s comment of the night is when Simon compares his performance to the supporting performance for a main act.

I can’t believe there are three more performances to critique it feels like this episode is incredibly long and drawn out. So this next performer surprises me. Alex Lambert performs What a Wonderful World by Jim Morrison. He definitely has a decent voice. I’m not a fan of bobbing around on stage though. I definitely agree with Simon when he says that the performance made him feel uncomfortable because it would appear as if Alex himself was uncomfortable. Kara for some reason just wants to give out hugs here- definitely getting late-LOL. She then says he has a good tone to his voice and great potential. Randy then follows with his critique and expresses that Alex needs to do it with conviction. Ellen just loves how he is rock ‘n the mullet J. Ryan then asks Alex how many times has he performed in front of people and his answer is like three at a coffee shop and that performing on stage tonight was absolutely terrifying. Oh don’t worry Alex all you need to do is ripe ‘n up. – Can’t forget the BANANNA reference right Ellen?

Casey James does an absolutely flawless performance of Heaven which for some reason has Kara all flustered-LOL. Kara expressed how Casey is both eye and ear candy and how she doesn’t recognize him with his shirt on. This followed with Ellen stating that she could feel Kara undressing him with her eyes. Randy then proceeds with saying that he likes Casey but not the same way Kara does. Simon gives out his second positive critique of the night by saying Casey absolutely chose the right song. The performance was honest and sincere. Simon I couldn’t agree more.

The last performance of the night was the most anticipated in my mind. Andrew Garcia from Moreno Valley, CA took the stage tonight with his own acoustic rendition of fall out Boy’s Sugar We’re Going Down. I’m not quite sure how to feel about this performance. I kind of felt slightly let down because of all the hype surrounding Andrew as an artist. The arrangement itself was definitely unique. Simon expressed similar feelings by saying that he was disappointed and that this performance was not original enough. Kara too felt the acoustic version of the song was strange. And Randy and Ellen distinctly remember him from Hollywood because of his version of Straight Up. Which is definitely still fresh in a lot of his fans minds which is what’s going to keep him here in the competition.

Overall tonight’s performances were not as disappointing as the previous nights. And yet I still can’t wait to find out who leaves. My prediction for which males we are going to see leave tonight are Tim Urban and possibly Jermaine Sellers for yelling at us through the TV or John Park for his forgettable performance. I anticipate the results show. Who knows the results may be shocking.

Photo Credit: AmericanIdol.com