By M. Giant
While Ryan does his introduction, the camera spins around in the center of what turns out to be a circle made up of him and the top ten guys, like an episode of That '70s Show. I feel surrounded. And oddly threatened. I think Charlie's my escape route, though.
We come back from the credits with not one but two people in the audience right to each other holding up homemade signs that read, "What Mariah says, goes." I hope at least one of them reads "...in one ear and out the other" on the flip side. Ryan comes out onstage and introduces the judges, and invites Randy to explain why the judges disagree sometimes. He says it happens, and they all agree. So much for that point. Ryan also gets some comments from Keith, but since it's guys night, Nicki and Mariah just get to sit on their hands while Ryan goes right to introducing tonight's performers: Elijah Liu, Cortez Shaw, Charlie Askew, Nick Boddington, Burnell Taylor, Paul Jolley, Lazaro Arbos, Curtis Finch, Jr., Devin Velez, and Vincent Powell. Okay, some of those guys are good, but I couldn't remember a single one of them during last night's show.
We're starting with Elijah, who is letting his appeal to the ladies going right to his flat-topped head, judging by his comments during his intro reel. He's doing "Stay" by Rihanna, starting out slow and staying there. At least the song doesn't ask much of his voice, which seems rather high and thin to me. Keith gives him credit for his control, which is a nice way of saying Randy's going to thump him in a minute. Nicki's still got a crush on Elijah and says he's very marketable. Randy says it's an improvement over last week and agrees with Nicki about his marketability, but it stayed in first gear (called it). Mariah thought it was one of his better performances, which isn't exactly overwhelming praise. She doesn't disagree with Randy, and adds that Elijah's "relevancy" is his strongest point. She's getting really good at softening her blows so much they sound like compliments. When Ryan comes out to agree with Mariah's tangential comments about how there's a trend of intimate songs going on right now, he asks Elijah about his reaction to seeing Rihanna do that song at the Grammys. Elijah says it hit him in the heart, and he's hoping to hit people in the heart too. I don't know, he might have to do it one person at a time, and do it literally.
Cortez Shaw talks in his intro reel that he's all about feedback, and promises to have taken it into account to fix himself. Though he admits it doesn't always work. Tonight he's doing "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars with some funky footwork, and for a moment I'm actually startled; I thought there was a rule against up-tempo songs for this stage of the competition. I have to admit it's a nice change, and Cortez hits almost all the notes, so I've got no complaints.
Keith asks why he picked it, and Cortez remembers someone else doing well with it during the Hollywood round. Well, that makes one of us. Keith likes both Cortez's voice and the song, but not necessarily together. Nicki clarifies that Cortez was enjoying himself, but suggest he get styled by whoever is styling Elijah. Randy says the high notes are a bit of a strain for him, so he should maybe take it down a half-step or two. Mariah says she prefers his ballads and comments on how he likes to start out high, and how the arrangement of "Titanium" he did last week was good and somebody please just play her off already. "A lot to take in," Ryan remarks euphemistically. He explains to Nicki that the contestants are styling themselves until they make it to the top ten, because of course he knows that and the judges don't.
Ryan has Keith autograph a fan's sign-sized photo of himself for some fans while introducing Charlie Askew. That's how he gets all his jobs done: he multitasks. Charlie claims to have totally lost himself in last week's performance, and explains his new mustache to us. Actually he's been growing it for half a year now, and it's only noticeable in extreme close-up, so it's not as "new" as you might think if you're only reading this. Tonight's he's accessorizing it with an ill-advised tank top and ponytail for his performance of -- get this -- "Mama" by Genesis. Deep track! That's the one where Phil Collins loses his shit at the end. Charlie doesn't wait that long, busting out the high-powered falsetto for the second verse and skipping the creepy laugh altogether, which I'd have thought would be his favorite part.
Keith talks about the reaction of the audience in the most euphemistic way he can think of to call it bizarre, and thinks Charlie might work better as a band's frontman, because this was "disingenuous." Nicki was also disappointed, saying she feels like someone stole her kid. She tells him to lose the arms and the ponytail and the mustache (which he already did, not that there's much difference) and go back to being what she liked about him before. Randy says it started out terrible and went to screaming and it didn't connect. Charlie is looking increasingly upset when Mariah's turn comes around, and she remarks on his apparent love for classic rock and the "diversity" he brings.
Charlie's clearly taking this hard, lacking the artifice to put on a brave face. Ryan asks him about the song, and Charlie explains that he needed to vent, whatever that mean. Ryan isn't about to let that just sit there, and when he asks for more, Charlie tells Ryan that he smiles a lot because he feels like he has to, and Ryan does a pretty good job for someone who was just drafted into the role of his therapist, assuring Charlie that he has friends here. Charlie does get a standing ovation from the audience, but dude, that was raw. Not so much the performance, but the interview.
Ryan comes back to us from the Coke Lounge backstage with Nick Boddington, who talks about song selection and going back to the piano and his hat. Ryan shows some "before" photos of Nick's former floppy-haired self, who Nick admits is long gone. Nick's intro reel covers his near-miss against Gurpreet last week, and then he's live at the piano, singing an even slower version of "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls. This song's a good match for his high, clear voice, and I think he's found that "connection" that everyone was going on about at him last week. Best of all, he stays at the piano the whole time. Keith says that it was a perfect song for him and tells him to stick with the piano/singing thing, and looks past his nervousness in spots to compliment his tone. Nicki wanted more of the song's original melody, because of course it's one of her favorites, but she liked it overall, saying he was back in his comfort zone and true to himself. It wasn't Randy's favorite of Nick's, but he calls it a "good, solid performance." As for Mariah, she says he kicked in at the end and she hopes people consider his other performances, which means she thinks he blew it tonight. I'm getting good at de-softening her blows, too.
Burnell tells us in his intro reel that he did an amazing job last week, and we get to see before and after shots of the forty pounds he lost running on the treadmill twice a day for ninety minutes. Jeez, who has that kind of time who isn't on Idol? He's singing "I'm Here" by Jennifer Hudson, the same thing he did at his first audition, still using hand gestures like he's conducting an invisible orchestra of Oompa-Loompas. Keith gives him a standing ovation and talks about his distinctive voice, which I'm still not all that impressed by. Nicki quizzes him about the arrangement and says she's glad they found him. Randy comments on the urgency of his performance grabbing everyone's attention and is glad to see him getting back to what they liked about him in the first place. Mariah appreciates the return to the emotional place of his first audition, because that's what she's been waiting for. Burnell explains to Ryan how he did the repeat so we could hear the song without the interference of the editors chopping it all up. I'm sure they'll have his back from now on, though.
Ryan's back in the Coke Lounge talking to Paul Jolley about his experience being an extra in music videos for artists like Lady Antebellum, Blake Shelton, and Rascal Flatts. Paul is nervous just talking about it, and also about getting to meet Carrie Underwood. In his intro reel, he recalls having been saved by Jimmy Iovine's tiebreaker during the sudden death round and is counting on the support of people back home in Tennessee this week. Which might actually help, now that I think about it, assuming they can dial fast enough. He's going with a Xtina song, "Just a Fool," and doing a pretty good job with it, concentrating on singing it rather than the theatrics.
Keith asks him to pigeonhole himself, and he says he wants to be pop-country, a sort of guy version of Taylor Swift. Oh, God, let's not go down that black hole, shall we? I have to get these things done in a reasonable amount of time. Keith tells him that he needs to dial it back even a little further to be more believable. Nicki critiques Keith's critique and then declares it a solid performance, adding that Keith knows what he's talking about country-wise. Randy liked the quiet parts more than the intense parts for once in his life, and Mariah says this is the first she's heard of Paul's country-pop ambitions and defers to Keith's expertise in that field. Thanks for coming out tonight, Mariah. Now that everyone has talked about how knowledgeable Keith is, Ryan asks him if he liked it or not, and Keith says he likes...Paul. So no, then.
Lazaro talks about last week and how there might be other kids out there who are social outcasts, and he advises them to be themselves. Tonight he's singing "Feelin' Good," with a lot more confidence than last week, with that singing voice of his that's the polar opposite of his speaking one. He's not even sweating at the end. He's a lock for tomorrow night and, even more amazing, I think he knows it. Keith has to wait through quite a lot of crowd noise before getting to say that everybody in the audience connects with him when he sings. Nicki notices that she and Lazaro both favor pink (indeed, if Lazaro weren't already an ice cream man he's going have to become one to justify his sartorial style), and admits that she had doubts about the song choice before hearing him sing it, but he put those to rest. Randy rolls out the "in it to win it" catchphrase he seems to think is his, and Mariah starts by asking Lazaro how he feels. She's impressed with how he puts his emotion into the song, but says this song was a little low for him, getting herself booed for probably the first time ever. Now she'll never say anything outright negative ever again. Ryan's interview with Lazaro is pretty one-way, probably because he doesn't want to put either one of them in that position on live TV, but Lazaro at least gets to say "thank you."
Curtis Finch, Jr. talks about growing up in the shadow of his dad and their shared name. That really held Phillip Phillips Jr. back last year, too. But now he's over it, calling his performance last week "amazing" and "epic" and "amazing." Which voters always love hearing from contestants. He sings "I Believe I Can Fly," reeling in the cheese factor from last week somewhat. Then he blows it out at the end so hard that Randy and Nicki are on their feet before he's even done, and Keith and Mariah join them. Looks like we have a winner for tonight. Keith talks about him in glowing, positive terms, and Nicki says this is bigger than American Idol, which I didn't think anyone was allowed to say on this show, and gushes on about how he has power from God, which Curtis eats up. Randy says the competition just started, and this is what all the guys should be doing. Mariah thanks him for his energy and all that. Isn't anyone going to talk about his singing?
Devin Velez is up, and he declares his performance last week "unbelievable." He also talks about how authentic he feels when he sings in Spanish, and about his mother's loud, echoing scream. Which he means in a good way, because I guess he can always hear her in the audience. Tonight he's doing the Perry Como standard "It's Impossible," which as we all know was originally written in Spanish, so naturally he reverts to the original lyrics for the second verse. Now I kind of want him to go far in this competition just to see how many weeks it is before he runs out of half-Spanish songs.
Keith says it was a little shaky at the beginning, but he's a "good, good singer." Nicki declares it "muy bien" and "perfecto" and runs out of Spanish words before she stops and ends up being reduced to calling it fat. But she likes how Devin stands like a Ken doll. Randy likes his tone and his look, while Mariah appreciates his apparent effortlessness. She says he could reach an international audience, which may be her way of saying he'll be one of those artists that are huge in Latin America but nobody in the U.S. has heard of. Not that that's a mal thing. Mal means bad, right?
Vincent Powell is closing out the show, and he talks about last week and how he's still trying to figure out what Nicki meant about middle-aged people throwing panties at him. He's doing "End of the Road" by Boys II Men (aren't they just Men now?), coasting through the first verse but then coming back from the key change with a big loud high note near the top of Mariah's range before bringing it down to a big finish. Keith, feeling the time crunch, says Vincent's nerves held him back, but he can sing like a mofo ("mofo" gets bleeped, of course). Nicki agrees, "You wasn't sittin' on it right tonight," adding that it wasn't the best song for him. Randy says he overshot it a bit, but he's still one of the best singers. Mariah agrees, saying "there were moments of brilliance in that performance." Translating from Mariah-ese, she's saying there was corn in that turd. Harsh, Mariah.
Then Ryan runs the clips from tonight's performances and opens the phone lines for voting. Tomorrow the top twenty becomes the top ten. And it's only going to take an hour and a half.
M. Giant is a Minneapolis- based writer with a wife, a son, and a number of cats that seems to have settled at around two. Learn waaaay too much about him at Velcrometer, follow him on Twitter, or just e-mail him at m.giant[at]gmail.com.