Episode Report Card Shack: D+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT First Dubya, now this
By Shack | Season 1 | Episode 12 | Aired on 08.20.2002
Tamyra heads up to Black and Decker, who ask her if she was nervous between performances, given the judges' comments the first round. Tamyra says, "Absolutely," so hoarsely that I'm afraid she's going to spit blood all over them. Blah blah blah votecakes.
Now it's time for Nikki's second round. She's picked Melissa Etheridge's "I'm The Only One." Hey, maybe she's a single mom now after her own little voyage of personal discovery. What? Did you see her building that house a few weeks ago? She kicked ass! Okay, now that I've blathered on about both Ryan and Nikki, we'll just put an end to "Sexual Orientation Stereotype Theater." For now, anyway.
Nikki hits The Octagon wearing a cool, curvy ripped denim jacket. It looks kind of like something Prince would wear, except his would be made out of velvet or fur. She's also wearing a black belly-baring top and ripped jeans. This is a good song choice for Nikki, in the sense that she and Melissa have the same range. But for some reason, Nikki still sounds flat throughout the song. I don't understand why. Maybe it's because it keeps her from sounding like a "copycat" performance. Again, she's okay, but I don't really feel the desperation or slight anger that Etheridge put into the song.
Everybody cheers as though Nikki had just invented cold fusion. Randy "Nikki, Nikki, Nikki"s that she has finally found the perfect song for her. Did he just out her? Paula blah blah blahs some more about the song choice and says that this was Nikki's "magic moment." Simon says that, after the "nightmare" that was last week, Nikki has proven she belongs in the competition. Nikki's family is wearing shirts that have pictures on them of Nikki performing. I would be terribly embarrassed if my parents ever did that to me. And I know they totally would, too.
Nikki heads up to Black and Decker for the blah blah blah votecakes. Brian throws it to commercials, and the theme music starts up, but then camera-whore Ryan brings the whole show to a screeching halt. Why? He wants to run down to the front row to have some girl named Brooke throw the show to commercial for them. They're called run-throughs, Ryan. Look into them. I hope the guys in the control room come out and kick Ryan's ass during the commercial break.
Commercials. When we return, Black and Decker blather about the show's official site. You can vote for the top five moments in the show, which I guess are going to be replayed in the finale or something. Ryan begs us not to vote for the time where Simon made fun of his shirt. Nobody did, because nobody cares, because the show isn't about you. They remind us about the humongous whirlwind American Idol tour being planned, heading to cities like Phoenix and Tampa and…actually, that's it. Two weeks after announcing the tour, they've still only got two stops secured. Geniuses.