It’s that time of year again…March Madness, Spring Forward, and Debily’s American Idol Predictions!! Seriously, folks, it doesn’t get much more exciting than this.
For those of you who are new to my blog, this has become a tradition for the past couple of years. Before I head out to party with the Idol Girls each week, I make my predictions of who will make it, who will land in the bottom three, and who is out. I may not be “Debily the Greek” (with my apologies to the under-30 crowd who has no idea what I mean by that or who “Jimmy the Greek” was), but I hold my own most weeks. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts and ideas – the more the merrier!
This week was a tribute to the Rolling Stones. Admittedly, I’m not a huge Stones fan. I appreciate their music, I acknowledge their talent, I know enough of the lyrics to “Satisfaction” to get by at parties, but I’ve never been one to buy their albums or download their songs. Honestly, I didn’t know most of the songs performed tonight, so I was pretty open-minded about the risks the performers chose to take. I also prefer to listen to AI rather than watch it, because that’s how I’ll get to know these artists: through their radio play. I don’t go to concerts, I don’t watch music videos, I don’t see them perform live. So they gotta sell me on their vocals and musicality more than their stage presence.
But stage presence doesn’t hurt and tonight there emerged one clear winner:
Holy black dress, Batman! In Randy-speak, Siobhan was DA BOMB. I haven’t felt goosebumps like that since David Cook did his rendition of “Billie Jean.” Awesome. Amazing. She emerged as the one to beat.
But as we all know, it’s not about who won the night, it’s about who will be tearfully watching their “American Idol Journey” montage as the show fades to credits. Here are my picks for the bottom three:
Sitting pretty in 10th place will be Andrew Garcia. I like this guy. I like him a LOT even though he needs to attend the Danny Gokey School of Cool and Stylish Eyewear for a few weeks. But he just seemed to be trying too hard this week, pushing his style and vocals beyond his own capabilities. I think the judges have really done him a disservice with their emphasis on encouraging him to take risks musically. He seems to feel pressured to have a new and creative take each week…and sometimes that’s just not possible. But his story is so great that he will ride the wave for a few weeks until – hopefully – he gets back on track.
I’m sorry. I just don’t get him. I know the judges loved his performance. Not me. He LOOKS young and tiny on the stage, and unlike David Archuleta (who was wise beyond his years in both style and stage presence) just doesn’t have the strong vocals or star quality to make me believe he’s worthy of winning it all.
I really like her. And I really *want* to like her onstage. She has such a unique look, and I love her distinctive sound. But she’s in danger of making everything sound the same. There was no “WOW” factor in her song tonight. For that reason, I believe the one we bid adieu to this evening will be Amarillo’s own Lacey Smith.
Let me hear your thoughts! And tune in tonight to see how I do!