Top 10 Guys: It's a Man's World

Welcome to Week 2! This week has the same format as last week did. 2 guys and 2 girls will ultimately be sent home on Thursday. After an unexpected trip the hospital sidelined Crystal Bowersox, Idol got creative and decided to throw the guys in a night early in hopes that she could return to perform on Wednesday. I was slightly nervous when I found this out. The guys were downright painful to listen to last go-round. I thought that going a night a head of schedule wasn't going to do them any favors. Luckily, the boys stepped up to the plate and gave a pretty serviceable performance episode. I might have accepted anything after last week, but this week was vastly improved!

I'm not going to waste any time. On to the reviews!

Michael Lynche- "It's a Man's World" by James Brown

So, we find out that Big Mike has a flair for the dramatic in his bumper video. That is hilarious to me. What's even more funny is that he can curl little Aaron Kelly. This guy is a hoot. I like him a lot. This was, by far, Michael's best performance on the show. Channeling his inner Ruben Studdard, Michael crooned out a goldie, showing that he is not just the fun-loving body builder, but a serious contender in this competition. His confidence is unmatched at this point in the competition, by both the other guys and the girls. He has a swagger on the stage that you just can't teach. It's innate. He also showed us with his vocals that he might have what it takes to be a great R&B artist. It was smooth, on pitch, and had the right amount of frill to spice it up, without sounding like he was over singing it. He is undoubtedly safe.

John Park- "Gravity" by John Mayer

Oh, John Park. I don't know what to say, really. He is one of the best pure vocalists in the competition. He has the tone and control to be extremely good, but he does not know how to play the game. This competition, though heralded as a singing competition, is much more than vocals alone. The tag line for the show is "The Search for a Superstar." This encompasses everything- from singing, to performing, to personality, to likability, to relevance, etc, etc. John only has the singing portion of that list. His version of "Gravity" was about as dull as he could have made it. The soul that John Mayer puts into his music was simply not there. The heart that he said he was putting into the song never showed in his performance. It was another ballad, which is all we've heard him sing, and one that was too middle of the road and forgettable. Middle of the road performances are always the worst. That means that you didn't do well enough for anyone to vote for you due to shear excitement over how well you did, but you also did not do bad enough for your fan base to feel sorry for you and vote like crazy so that you'll stay around another week. I'm calling John Park's time on this show done after this week.

Casey James- "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw

So, aside from the fact that Casey James looks like an overgrown Hanson brother, dudeman can kill the guitar. He is far and away the best guitarist that the show has ever seen in it's 9 seasons. Is that enough, though? To me, Casey shined when he played his blues song in Hollywood week. Last week was good, but not great. This week was about the same. His rendition of "I Don't Wanna Be" will be remembered more for his playing than his singing. Doing a song that is so widely done on the show, you run the risk of turning people away just from them being tired of hearing the song. I think this may have been the case this week. The more he is on the stage, the more he shows that he is not vocally where he needs to be at this point in the competition. I don't know if it's nerves or vibrato, but his voice is digressing week after week. I'm not a big fan of the Eddie Vedder sound. It doesn't work for him. He didn't have that ubber-fast vibrato in Hollywood, and it would serve him well to lose it now. Does this mean I think he's in trouble? Heck no. He is clearly safe. My critiques are things that he needs to iron out now so that he doesn't have to when he makes it to the top 10 overall. When, not if.

Alex Lambert- "Everybody Knows" by John Legend

Talk about zero to hero in the course of a week! Last weeks goofy, clumsy Clark Kent ripped off those glasses to give a Superman performance that was full of confidence and charisma. I was harsh on Alex in the past, but I have to give props where they are due. It was like watching two different people. I finally saw that tone that the judges have been raving about all this time. I actually agreed with them. It's unique and stands out from the pack. Randy said "You know what I like about your package?" Eeerrrr, please don't talk about his "package," Randy. I think that he did a great job with what could have been a disastrous song. He changed it up a bit and made it fit him as a singer. Besides one partially botched last note (I say partially because I believe it was on pitch, just executed weirdly), he was on key, showed poise, and performed the song rather than just singing it. I think he picked up a few fans with that performance, and dare I say that I might be one of them?!

Todrick Hall- "What's Love Got To Do With It?" by Tina Turner

After last weeks performance, which I liked, but the judges didn't, I was interested to see what we were going to get from Todrick. He tried to take the criticism that he received and use it for this song, but I'm not sure he did that effectively. Rather than dancing across the stage, he opted for a more toned down, straight forward performance. He still changed the arrangement around quite a bit. It took me a few seconds to figure out what song he was singing (just like last week). From the comments he received last week, I think he put the emphasis on the wrong part. He focused more on the performing critiques than he did on the rearranging critiques, and he got panned for them again. He has several problems in my opinion: 1) he performed another song originally performed by a female artist. Though, vocally, he was decent, it always provides a disconnect to the audience unless the song is incredibly flexible in terms of gender-specificity. 2) His voice is not as limber as he thinks it is. He incorporates massive amounts of melisma into his vocals, but they almost always seem forced. Kara said it best (shockingly)- he does not have to bring every trick to the table every week. Bring one good trick that means something. 3) He needs to show more of his personality. There seems to be a large gap between his performing personality and his regular, everyday personality. I'm not sure if America is buying what he's selling because I don't think they know what side is the real Todrick. I think that he might be in trouble this week.

Jermaine Sellers- "What's Goin' On" by Marvin Gaye

After a severely sub par showing last week, Jermaine needed to knock one out of the ballpark. I'm not sure he did that. Picking one of the greatest songs ever penned is always a no-no, as is continually singing high notes that don't measure up. He was, once again, pitchy on most of the song, but this was much better than last weeks. It's still not up to the standard I expect from him. He constantly talks about how he's a church singer (trying to get that Christian vote)...SO SHOW US SOME SOUL! Everything we've seen from him seems contrived- from his Pee-Wee Herman sense of fashion and Ed Grimley/Ruby Rod haircut to his weekly disappointing vocals. The only thing that is saving him right now is his personality. He is a pretty funny guy and we learned this week that he "rocks da onesie," covered in dinosaurs, no less. I'm a fan of that! He might be in trouble this week. He is in the same boat as Todrick, and it's worse for them that they are splitting the R&B vote. I expect one of them to go, but I think Jermaine has connected with more people due to his fun-loving personality.

Andrew Garcia- "You Give Me Something" by James Morrison

The once front-runner is finding himself stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. He had his best performance in Hollywood week, and he can't escape it's shadows. People are constantly comparing him to that song (which I refuse to name again- it's been said too much on the show) and it's becoming more of a burden than the blessing it appeared to be at the time. He once again showed that he is one of the best vocalists in the competition. He does have an incredible recording voice, but there is something that he's doing wrong. I think he's taking himself a bit too seriously and trying too hard to change songs every week. And he's also staying in a comfort zone of sorts. He hasn't taken any risks yet. He hasn't reached for any notes that were difficult or overly impressive. He has only sung slow songs, or fast songs turned slow. I want to see him bust out with something fun! He needs to take a deep breath, relax, and laugh. Heck, he can look at his wife's haircut if he needs a good chuckle (ok, that was too far. I'm sorry.) He is critiqued because he is better than he is showing right now and everyone can see it. He's clearly safe, but he needs to figure out a way to break out of the confines of his past success and start paving a new road ahead- one that not many of the contestants have the talent to join him on.

Aaron Kelly- "My Girl" by The Temptations

I am going to chalk the whole Aaron Kelly thing up to personal taste. I, for one, don't know what the judges see in this kid. He is a fair at best singer, has an interesting pseudo-country vibe with some pop flavorings, and has the endearing quality that comes with most 16 year olds in the competition, but I'm just not feeling it. I think his voice is nasally and doesn't have that great of a tone to it. This version of "My Girl" was nothing to boast about. It was incredibly karaoke and outdated. Go to a karaoke bar right now and ask someone to sing that song and I guarantee you that it will sound just as good, if not better, than what Aaron did. It was well too old for him and he did nothing to the arrangement to change that. Turns out that he likes photography, too. Why does this kid have to like the same things that I like?! Grrr. Still, he's safe due to all the mom's that wish he was their giddy little kid.

Tim Urban- "Come On, Get Higher" by Matt Nathanson

Tim Urban got SLAUGHTERED by the judges and the press for last weeks performance. Sadly, it was deserved, seeing as he was horrible. This week, you can tell that his goal was to just get through with a safe song where he wouldn't get torn a new one. Matt Nathanson was a great pick for him because that is the kind of artist he'd be. He would be the marginally talented singer/songwriter that makes the most of what he has with catchy hooks. That acoustic soft rock is where he should stay. I'm not sure why, but I like Tim. Does he have the best voice? Not in a long shot. Is he a good performer? Not necessarily. What does he have? He has the tween vote and he got Simon's approval this week (which is the only approval you need from the judges panel). What I like about Tim is his sincerity. He is a genuinely good guy who DOES have a good voice, but feels like he doesn't belong right now. And it shows. I liken him to a stock version of a car that comes without any of the bells and whistles. Yea, he can't sing as high as some, or with the melisma and swagger of others, but I think he has some potential if he's given the opportunity. He might not have the sunroof or the XM radio, but he can get you to point A to point B, and if you give it a try, you might enjoy the ride.

Lee Dewyze- "Lips of an Angel" by Hinder

Of all the contestants, this is my biggest question mark. I honestly think the judges are smoking crack. Maybe he has the kind of voice that sounds much better live than it does coming across the TV, but I don't think Lee is as good as the judges do by any stretch of the imagination. He comes off as a rip-off Nickelback (a rip-off of an overrated band is bad) and does not show this tone that they keep raving him for. He has a raspy voice, true, but he has shown me no actual skill as a singer. Most notes are starting off out of tune, then finding their place. "Lips of an Angel" was far too predictable, but you didn't see the judges lacing into him like they did Ashley Rodriguez for doing the same thing. Simon labeling him as "the one to beat" and "the best voice among the guys" proves my point that he is trying to sabotage the show. He couldn't possibly think that. I didn't enjoy this performance at all and I'm starting to wonder if I'm the crazy one, or if anyone else agrees with me that he only good enough to be a cover band front man.

All in all, I was impressed with the strides that some of the contestants took in only a weeks time. You can tell that the coaches and producers are working with these guys closely so they don't come off looking like the laughing stock of America for an entire season. Some guys, like Alex Lambert, jumped up in my opinion, while others, like Andrew Garcia, haven't done anything in a while to grab my attention. It's still the early stages, and it's a tough business to learn right away, so I'll give them some leeway.

In my opinion, I think John Park was easily the worst of the night- bland, boring, and without any sort of passion. I think that all of his followers have essentially jumped off of the bandwagon (seeing as he was heavily favored coming into the live show). He is like a less entertaining version of Anoop, and that's saying a lot, since Anoop was often boring as well. I think he will be crooning about "Gravity" again on Thursday as he falls from the heights that many held him to and heads home. The second person going home will probably be either Todrick or Jermaine, but I'm leaning towards Todrick. I just don't think people are getting him. I like him, but he has done nothing to earn my vote and I think that many Americans will share that sentiment.

What did you guys think? Did this week show a vast improvement over last week? Did anyone absolutely steal the show this week? Am I crazy for not liking Aaron or Lee or for liking Tim? Let me know. I'd like to hear more of your feedback to keep this America's #1 blog for all things Idol! (ok, so that might have been a lie, but hey...Kimberley Locke, season 2 third place finisher started following me on Twitter because she reads. Hey Kim!)

Your American Idol Junkie,

Billy