American Idol - The First Dozen

Well, it's been a few weeks since American Idol 8 started and we are finally at the stage of the show where I get really interested. As I have said before, the original auditions portion just doesn't float my boat. So what did the first week bring? A whole lot of blah, if you ask me. So let's take a closer look at the first dozen of our Top 36, shall we?


Jackie Tohn opened the show with Elvis' Little Less Conversation. WTF was that girl wearing??? It looked like a cross between Olivia Newton John's Sandy after she got her bad girl makeover mixed with Run DMC. Seriously, it's only because of the outfit that I even remember her performance. I had had high hopes for her until I was subjected to her awkward flailing on stage. I'm thinking we might see Jackie again during the Wild Card round. Simon summed it up perfectly though, when he referred to her as the clown of the night.

Next up, Rick Braddy. Honestly, I don't remember his performance in the least, I even had to consult Google to see what he had sung. In case you are wondering, it was A Song For You by Leon Russell. As you can tell, I don't have high hopes for Ricky but the judges seemed to like him enough so perhaps we will see him too in the Wild Card phase.

Alexis Grace takes the stage. Pinkie, as I now refer to her, was okay but not as fantastic as the judges made her out to be. I'm always leery of anyone taking on an Aretha song. Seriously, if you don't have the voice or the soul to do it justice, just don't even bother attempting this feat.

Brent Keith should have stayed in Hicktown. Yes, that was his song choice and it didn't seem that anyone had ever heard of it before. A totally lackluster performance in my opinion. Randy gave Brent a little career advice and told him he would be great on the Chili Cook-Off Circuit, which I am thinking should not be construed as a compliment.

Stevie Wright murdered Taylor Swift's You Belong. What the hell was she thinking? Sure, she's 16 and had totally impressed the judges with her performance of Etta James' At Last during the earlier auditions but this was just cringe worthy. Note to contestants: when the panel say to you, "Pick a younger song," that does not mean literally. Buh-bye, Stevie.

Anoop "Dawg" Dasai seems to be a crowd favorite. Some have even said that it could be because of the popularity of Slumdog Millionaire which I think is totally absurd. His rendition of Monique's Angel of Mine was okay but nothing really too stupendous but as he's considered one of the most likable on the show up to now, I think he might just eke his way to the Top 12 either by way of this round or most definitely via the Wild Card. Time will tell.

Casey Carlson's Every Little Thing You Do Is Magic by The Police was atrocious. As the judges remarked, you do not sing anything by such an iconic band or artist and, if you do try and attempt this, you had better make it your own and blow us away. Not only was Casey out of tune but what was with all of those facial expressions. Does she suffer from Tourrette's Syndrome with all of those tics??? And the fact that she actually thought she was good when the judges were bashing her, was just unbearable to watch. Casey's reaction made me think that she might have been on the kiddie pageant circuit as a tyke and has never heard real criticism before. I don't think we will be seeing her again after the results show.

Michael "Oil Rig Guy" Sarver opted for Gavin DeGraw's I Don't Want to Be which was fine but lacked any real passion in its delivery. A word to Michael, ditch the white shirt! Black is a much more slimming color especially for broadcast purposes. I'm thinking the judges will more than likely bring him back in the Wild Card round for one last try.

Anne Marie Bosovich made the same mistake as Alexis. She opted for not only an Aretha song, but the anthem Natural Woman. I was utterly disappointed with her performance. I had liked her in the auditions despite the judges giving her two chances. Remember Simon sent her out to make her look a little more star-like but tonight her performance was reeked with pitch problems. My gut is telling me that we will see her in the Wild Card round as Paula seemed to gush over her.

Steven Fowler's Rock With You was just abysmal. Here's another case where a contestant took an iconic song and didn't have success. You might recall at the start of Hollywood week, Simon proclaimed that anyone who forgot their lyrics would be axed immediately. Well, Steven was the exception to that rule apparently as he not only forgot the lyrics but stormed off stage in Hollywood. Well this time, he managed to remember the words but forgot to bring any form of personality with him. We bid you a fond adieu, Steven.

Finally, the most talked about contestant since William Hung, Tatiana Nicole del Toro hits the stage. It appeared that she opted to take her lithium for tonight's performance. Seriously, who is this woman who took over the Puerto Rican import's soul??? Where's the nails on chalkboard like giggling that we have all grown to hate? Where's the cockiness? Who is this woman??? Well, it turns out this lookalike can sing on par with her nuttier twin, not "knock me over with a feather" good but better than the majority of the other people we have seen this episode and that's even with a huge song like Whitney Houston's I'm Saving All My Love For You. I'm thinking she might just make it through especially as she has the support of AI's arc nemesis Vote for the Worst, who was responsible for keeping the trainwreck known as Sanjaya around for far too long a few seasons ago. But honestly, Tati was much better than the majority of the other female contestants.

Last up, Danny Gokey who is looking to be this year's favorite. I had noticed him early on so I expect that he will easily get through to the Top 12 finals. He performed Mariah Carey's Heroes which I felt was far too cliche since we are constantly reminded that he recently lost his wife. Sure, that's a tragedy but I am over hearing everyone's sob story. This is a TALENT competition, people! Danny does nail his performance and also manages to segue way out of further talk of his wife, which I give him credit for.

What are my predictions?

Top Female: Alexis Grace (out of the bunch she did do the best)
Top Male: Danny Gokey (obvious!)
Next Highest Vote: it's a toss up between Anoop Daisi or Tatianna Nicole del Torres

There you have it, the first proper episode of the season. Who do you think will make it to the coveted Top 12?