Donna Summer

The Queen of Disco is gone.

Donna Summer passed away at the age of 63 following a battle with cancer. Her music was great. It was more than just the instrumental pieces. Her voice resonated and defined the songs she sang. The songs just wouldn't be the songs without it.

She is a legend and she shall be missed.

Rest In Peace.

Here are a few of my personal favorites after the break.

J out.

America. Still Not Right.

Voices people. We play this game to hear voices.

I must say, I'm happy to see Jessica in, especially after that foolish decision to vote her off, but Joshua clearly deserved that spot. His performance at the end of the night...just fabulous. I guarantee a person watching that would ask "That was who got voted off?" In any case, here comes Phillip the winner. America will continue to prove it is all about looks in the game of singing.

I will say that this finale will definitely be better than last years. I mean I love Scotty and all, but the country/country finale was boring. At least a contrasting finale is nice. And before you all say, "Well wouldn't Jessica and Joshua be a R&B/R&B finale, the same thing you just denounced?", it wouldn't be. There are a ton of contrasting voices and styles in R&B. In country, most of the different styles come in the music.

Anyway, I'm logging my vote next week for Jessica. While I say America didn't get it right, this will still be a good finale anyway and I'm looking forward to it. I have nothing against Phillip, so I'll still enjoy it.

Until then....

J out.

I'm Still Here....Kind Of.

Don't worry, I'm still here. Work is shifting into the busy season, so my hours have been a bit wonky as of late which has made me miss the last three weeks.

I will have a post about the final two following the festivities.

J out.

*Oh and by the way, I didn't even know Lisa Marie Presley still performed. Shows how much I know.

The Royal Top 6

So...after a very hectic 3 weeks at work I've actually made it home in time to review an episode. A lot has happened and I talked about some of it *cough*Jessica*cough*, but here we are to hopefully stay on track.

As we head into this week we mourn the loss of Colton. Now America, I know I said that Colton shouldn't be placed ahead of the crowd because of his looks, but I didn't say he sucks. Really shocking to see him voted off. I am mystified as to how Hollie is still on the show.

In any case, we move onward and upward toward this week. Our Idols will be performing twice this evening. First, they will tackle the songs of Queen, one of the most fun rock groups of the 70s/80s. Then, they will have one of the rare opportunities to sing a song of their choosing.

They choose to start the show off with a Group Medley of Queen songs as they have the absolute privilege to sing alongside Brian May and Roger Taylor. Why in the world are they having the Group Medley tonight? Why seemingly eliminate songs from the pool by performing them first. Kind of annoying to me.

Anywho, to the performances....

Jessica: Um...way to come out the gate singing the biggest Queen song of all-time, "Bohemian Rhapsody." She did well with it. Great job from her. She sang it straight and the slow parts of the song were the absolute best to  show off her voice.

Skylar: Okay...every Queen song is a great one, so I'm going to retire the phrase "(Going with) the great Queen song." Singing "The Show Must Go On." She put her whole voice into this song. She sang it. Way to go. Another great performance.

*Apparently the piano man was still on his break and had to run up just in time to perform here. Oops.*

Joshua: I mean he just broke out the gate with "Crazy Little Thing Call Love." Just started to sing and went with it. I wasn't a huge fan of them singing a medley at the beginning of performance night, but if it is going to inspire this(?), I'm all for it. Great performance. You know, I might have to retire the phrase "great performance."

*I don't know why they don't have the mentor clips before the contestants anymore (or maybe they're saving them for the contestant's own choice song?) but going directly from one performer to another exactly as they've done here makes the show seem rushed.*

Elise: You know, there is something about Elise. At times it seems she isn't into the song, but at the same time her voice tells me that she is. Another good one as she performed "I Want It All", it was perfect for her voice.

Phillip: I don't know if Phillip is a fan of "Fat Bottomed Girls", but he certainly sounded like it as he put his soul into this. Well done.

Hollie: She was just a bit off during "Save Me." There was this one part where she almost lost it, but saved herself. Overall a good performance, one well-suited for a voice.

So now we roll the tape back and start all over again as the contestants sing a song of their choosing.

Jessica: I love Luther Vandross, so her singing one of his last hits while he was alive, "Dance with My Father", already won me over. She did very well. The song meant a lot to her as he father is a-soon-to-be-deployed servicemen and you could tell she meant it. I love this girls taste in music.

Skylar: I tell you. This girls voice was made for country. Going with "Tattoos on This Town" she really proved that she can really sing country. She can really go out and begin singing country now.

Joshua: He slowed it down this time around with "Ready for Love", and he...tore...it...up. Great. Just great. I was waiting for a performance to make my ears really stand up and this was it. Best of the Night. This is what I wanted.

*I don't know what the hell they're doing tonight, but now they aren't telling us what songs they're performing. Really annoying. Really sloppy.*

Elise: She can really sing. Seriously. She tore up "Bold as Love" from Jimmy Hendrix. Great song choice for her, and unlike what Steven was saying, people don't need to know the song if you sing it great.

Phillip: He stuck with his roots with "The Stone" from the Dave Matthews Band. Stand strong young one, that was a good performance. Very smooth. I liked it.

Hollie: She was much better this time around performing "The Climb" from Miley Cyrus. Not bad.

So there you have it. Apparently, Jimmy Iovine took the week off.

Bottom 3: Elise, Hollie, Skylar
Going Home: Hollie

I really don't understand how Hollie is still hanging around. I miss Colton. Go vote. Vote, vote, vote.

J out.

Really America?

I mean really. Honestly?

This is where the little girls make their presence known. How dare you vote off the best singer of the night? Jessica was miles better than your precious Colton or Phillip. I'm not trying to knock either of them; they can both sing, but Jessica is better.

But here comes another boring Boy/Boy, Phillip/Colton finale. Colton the winner. The sad part is the show will only hemorrhage a few viewers, more of the folks who were trying to vote the actual best singer in, and keep the scores of teenage girls to bag another season at #1. Sad.

I am terribly disappointed to see the decline of what used to be one of the best television shows.

J out.

(A Video may follow soon)

The Modern Top 7

(pic coming soon)
So we lost, DeAndre. I'm a bit surprised. I knew he had to go sometime, but I thought his performance last week was one of his best. Oh well.

As we head into this week, we get modern. Songs of the 2010's is the subject and Akon is our mentor. I'm a little mixed on this. I don't think there are a lot of current songs, especially pop, suited well to really showcase a singing voice. But we'll see. These guys are very good at arranging a song for them.

Here we go....

Skylar: Very good performance with "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You" from AI Alum Kellie "Soap Suds in a Bucket" Pickler. She knows how to pick songs for herself. This was very good.

Colton: Oooooooh buddy....does this man know how to shape a song for his voice or what!? Another excellent arrangement from Colton doing "Love the Way You Lie" by Rhianna and Eminem. I swear he knows how to arrange a song. Great job.

Jessica: Doing Jazmine Sullivan's "Stuttering", she...was...excellent. Great performance. The best of the night. She knew exactly where to go with this song, her arrangement was awesome. Just an amazing performance. I'm telling you, a Top Three of her, Joshua, and Colton and even a Top Four with Skylar included might be one of the best in recent memory.

Joshua: Going with Bruno Mars' jazzy "Runaway Baby", he rocked it out. He was on point...the whole time. Excellent. It is very hard for a fast paced song to go off well on Idol, but he did it very well. Great job. Jessica is still ahead of him for best of the night, but this was pretty damn close.

Hollie: After giving some Bottom 3 performances, she finally gave me something to want. Singing a favorite of mine, "Perfect", she did very well. Much much better than previous weeks.

Phillip: Very good performance doing "Give A Little More" by Maroon 5. He greatly showcased his voice at the beginning and it worked well.

Elise: Welp. She picked another good one for her voice. Another favorite of mine, "You and I" from Lady Gaga was the subject. She has an excellent voice for this. This wasn't her best but with a song like this and a voice like hers, it's hard to notice. I was honestly shocked to see her in the Bottom 3 last week.

It gets REALLY tough now. Tonight was a great night for really everyone. Great performances from everyone. Good luck.

Bottom 3: Hollie, Elise, Skylar
Going Home: Hollie

Wait, Skylar in the Bottom 3!?!? Yes, this will be a tough week to put anyone in the bottom 3, but I think all three guys were good enough to avoid it this week.

Vote.

J out.

The Tubular Top 9

Due to work, I missed the first few performances. I will review the performances as soon as possible (I've already seen snipets from them all) and put them in a Part One post. Due to me also coming in late, I won't review the duets.

Joshua: An overall underwhelming performance. It wasn't bad; far from it. It just wasn't the "WOW" material he had pumped out in weeks past. I was expecting more from him and maybe that's why I found it not as great. Still "If You Don't Know Me By Now" is a great song and he did it well.

Jessica: This is a girl who can really sing. She was born with voice. Going with Whitney's "How Will I Know", she rocked it out. She really used that powerful voice to "give" me the song. Well done.

Hollie: Singing "What a Feeling", this was another underwhelming performance for me. She was all over the place and this certainly doesn't bode well for her.

Colton: Well...Colton wins the competition. If this performance of "Time After Time" doesn't secure him the 12 year old vote (and that's the only one that matters), nothing will. Seriously though, this was a very great arrangement of this song and it fit his voice very well. Well done.

Skylar: I'm very disappointed that she changed her song choice from "9 to 5" to "Wind Beneath My Wings." I was ready to rock out with "9 to 5." But still this was a great performance. I tell you, this girl never seems to disappoint. Very well done.

*I didn't comment on the duets, but Jessica and Joshua were clearly the best of the bunch.

Bottom 3: Hollie, Phillip, DeAndre
Going Home: Hollie

Vote, vote, vote.

Part One to come soon.

J out.