The American Idol Weekly Rundown: Top 36

Yep...that time of year again. Bear with me while I clap with glee! No, I am not an AI fanatic but I must admit, I love me my talent shows. Last night was utterly average. But there is definitely some potential there. This was the first group of 12, out of 36. THe show itself was also a kind of a mess...lots of missteps in the directorial dpt and tons of flubs, which were kinda funny and which really tested Ryan's hosting ability. I do have to say that Kara (the new judge) had some great critique to offer. I like her much better than scatterbrained Paula.
Anyway, here it go:

The Best:

1. Alexis Grace-I like her pink hair and she has a good voice. Plus she's from Tennessee! She sang an Aretha Franklin song, which was too big, but she had lots of stage presence. I thought she looked a bit Vegas-y with her pearl necklace and stance but no one else did, evidently. So yeah, she was the best-but that's not saying much.

The Good:

2. Danny Gokey-Robert Downey Jr Look-a-like is a shoo in for the final 12, mainly because he can sing but also because he already has a HUGE fan base and got tons of air time during the audition weeks. His wife died four weeks before the auditions...sniff sniff...he was about to lose hope...sniff sniff...and now he has something to LIVE FOR! *sarcastic chuckle* He sang 'Hero' by Mariah Carey. It was good but super schmaltzy.

3.Ricky Braddy-I find 'A Song For You' a snoozy choice. But I really thought he did a nice job with it. He has a very pretty voice. One of the best I've heard so far in the season.

4.Anoop Desai-He was another impressive voice on the auditions. But I really didnt like this song choice. It was a song my Monica, for goodness sake! These people had the entire Billboard catalogue to go off and this is what they chose? Anyway, he can sing stuff so he'll be okay, I think.

5.Michael Sarver-I didnt like the song choice...it's too overdone on this show. But he has a great voice and I like him too. He's friendly looking. One bad point was that he continually switched his mic from one hand to the other...it was mildly distracting. He's gonna have to get over that, methinks.

6. Tatiana- I don't care what anybody says, I love this gal! I can totally see her becoming a huge star and having a nervous breakdown before the release of her first album (heh heh). She is such a crazyhead. I like the way she tried to pass herself off as 'sane' this week and only succeeded in making herself look like a manic depressive. Anyway, she sang 'Saving All My Love For You' and it weren't half bad! I actually like her voice quite a lot. Oh, and I love the way she looked into the camera completely straight faced and said 'THis is my dream America, and it's up to you to keep my dream alive.'like she was reciting the pledge of alliegiance. HAHAHAHAHAHA....Brilliant!

The Bad:
7.Brent Keith-Slips into the mediocrity of virtually every male artist in what is laughingly known today as 'country' music. No, I don't see anything memorable about him or anything that stands out. I don't even remember what song he sang though I guess he sang it well. Okay, he sang 'Hick Town', which I think is a Keith Urban song. Whatever, it could have been anybody.

8.Ann Marie Boskovich- She's from Nashville and she's (surprise!) a demo singer. So it was no surprise when her performance of Natural Woman sounded like a demo. Plus, something about her styling looked really dated. She needs short messy hair or something. Wierd.

9.Steven Fowler- He didnt sing it all that badly, but 'Rock With You' will always kinda sound like elevator music from the seventies-which it kinda is. Not that I don't like the song, but it doesnt translate well in this type of atmosphere. His high note also cracked...or maybe that was my tv signal. Hmmmm.

The Ugly:

10.Jackie Thone-A horrid butchering of a fun Elvis song, "Little Less Conversation'. There's no doubt she can sing but I don't think she has anything all that special to bring to the table...except maybe a twisted fashion sense. She was wearing a polka dotted bustier with tight (shiny) eighties spandex pants and SNEAKERS. Oh, and a red cinch belt to set off the 1986 look just right. Aye me. She had fun and she involved the audience but that can only take you so far. I DID like her polite 'dissing' of everyone who has ever sung 'I'm Not Going' on the show. Haha.

11.Stevie Wright-During the auditions, she stood out to me. But this was an absolute train wreck! Why a girl w/ a strong voice would choose to sing Taylor Swift (who has very little vocal ability) is beyond me, but she didnt even do it well. She was off key through almost the whole song. Sounded like every other karaoke performance at your neighborhood bar. And yes, drunk people would have clapped with just about the same warmth that this audience did.

12.Casey Carlson-pretty little squirt. Unfortunately she tried to do The Police and it was wretched indeed. She also made wierd faces and hit a flat note or two. Yikes. Side thought: Am I the only one who has noticed that everybody has the sixties 'bump' in the back of their head these days? Man, are they ever running with THAT trend.