IdolPhenomena

So for the East Cost we just finished the Top 12 girls performances. For me as an Idol fan I was totally dissapointed tonight. I really expected to be completely blown away. However, the overall of tonight left me hoping for tomorrow to see what the guys have to offer. This year Simon has been quoted with saying that this would be a girls year... I am not sure. But once we get into the Top 12 the competition is a whole other ball game.
Tonight started with an interesting montage of why Ellen and Kara traded seats on the panel, however it did feature some great singing by the following idol contestants that unfortunately did not make it to the Top 24: Keanna O'Quinn, Brittany Starr James and Samantha Musa.

The first contestant to hit the stage was none other than the underrated contestant who has had like no air time, Paige Miles. They showed a short clip of her singing in Hollywood which was absolutely amazing and then she hits the semi-final stage with a horrible song choice. I don't even remember her performance after watching. Sorry but song choice in this competition is everything which is also a common theme that I do see in my interviews. Next up was Ashley Rodriguez a great voice since the beginning. Tonight she tackled "Happy" by Leona Lewis. Ashley has a great upper register however to pick such an artist on the first night performing for America it was definitely not the right song to pick. Kara compares Leona to our generations Mariah Carey. However along with artists such as Whitney Huston and Alicia Keys Simon constantly preaches to contestants that they are not to come on stage and imitate them. Janell Wheeler was the third performer of the night sh sang what about love which was also a poor song choice on her part. I can't help but want to hear her sing Estelle again. Idol started to head in the right direction tonight when Lilly Scott hit the stage. Personally I've never known how how to feel about her as a contestant because she has never been one of my favorites. She sings "Fixing a Hole" by the Beatles so far compared to the other contestants tonight Lilly has been the most original. She knows who she is as an artist. Like Randy says I do feel that she has an Indie vibe. She is definitely comparable to artists such as Adele, Duffy or even Lilly Allen. Katelyn Epperley is the next to sing another Beatles song "Oh Darling." And I thought oh darling what did you wear. Her make over for tonight's performances was totally an epic fail on her part. However her voice made up for it. She definitely will be safe at least until next week. Next was Haeley Vaughn the third person to chose a Beatles song. Just some positives first. She always has fun while she is on stage and has an incredible presence. However she was all over the place with the vocals tonight and one point I even felt like I was being yelled at through the television and that doesn't happen often. Next up was Lacey Brown. If you were able to watch Twitter at all tonight Lacey has a big following comprised of many past idol contestants including Sharon Wilbur, Felicia Barton, Brent Keith and Ju'Not Joyner. However tonight nerves may have gotten the best of this amazing singer. She was dressed to impress and yet did not deliver what i expected. Consistently song choice has been the biggest issue so far tonight. Next Michelle Delamor took the stage singing "Fallin" by Alicia Keys and in the beginning of the performance its almost as if her pitch has run away somewhere. However overall the judges were pleased and Ellen said that it was safe. I would agree this type of music seemed to be her niche. Okay Didi was next. She has always been one of my favorites since she was featured in her initial audition. They showed a short clip of her singing "Terrified" which was written by Kara DioGuardi. Amazing vocalist. Didi's amazing performance of Ingrid Michaelson's "The Way I Am" made up for the afghan that she was wearing on stage ;-). Next up was apprentice glass blower Siobhan Magnus. I didn't even know that was a job you could still have.-LOL. Siobhan has an amazing big voice. She in fact could be a dark horse for this years competition even though she doesn't know exactly what a dark horse is. When it comes to technique and vocals Siobhan has full control of her voice. On a side note what was that thing growing out of her head tonight. Was that supposed to be a flower? Total clash with the rest of her outfit. The amazing Crystal Bowersox embodied artist tonight as she conveyed great honesty with her performance of "Hand In My Pocket" by Alanis Morisette. She definately had the whole Melissa Etheridge vibe emanating from her. Katie Stevens hit it home with Michael Buble's "Feel'n Good." For 17 she is amazingly talented and I'm not saying that only because she is from my home state of CT. The only downside of her performance tonight was that it was dated. For her age like the judges expressed maybe she should tackle something more contemporary.
Overall tonight was a slight disappointment however it is only the start. If I am to predict who is going home on Thursday I would feel that Paige Miles will be one of the girls to go. The next girl to go home would either be Haeley Vaughn or Lacey Brown. Just some personal feelings I can't believe that passed up Tori Kelly for Haeley but I do see where Haeley is more unique. I also feel that Lacey Brown will be around at least until next week. So she can finally wow America and the judges. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Anticipating performances by Andrew Garcia, Jermaine Sellers, Todrick Hall and Lee DeWyze.

Photo Credit:AmericanIdol.com