American Idol: Season 10 - IT BEGINS!

We're baaaaack.

The show opens with the Season 10 opening credits, which once again remind us that Lee Dewyze won last season of American Idol. Yay. And by yay I mean UGH.

Ryan asks the crowd who their favorite choice is. The clear winner is Vrrahaay. I mean, that's what I heard. Is there not a contestant named Vrrahaay? Don't start trying my patience this early in the season, Seacrest.

Our top 13 is re-introduced and I am reintroduced to the fact that this season SHOULD be strong. Which means it probably won't be. Oh boy.

Theme: Personal Idols.

To the performances!

Lauren Alaina - Shania Twain - Any Man Of Mine
Wait, Laura Alaina is a county girl? I mean I know she sang country last week, but...really? How did I miss that in the auditions/semi-finals? Laura looks adorbz and has approximately zero fear. And damn. Girl can sing. Not anything particularly new or exciting, but she's cute, confident, country AND has a shit load of talent - she is already the complete Disney package.
Steven - Wished the song was more kick ass, but loves her voice
J-Lo (Yup. Calling her J-Lo) - Always sounds so amazing, wants her to kick it into high gear. Loves her anyway.
Randy - Sang it well, but she needs to show off that she can sing anything and let herself shine beyond belief. Doesn't think she even knows how talented she is herself.

Moar after the jump!




Lauren Alaina on the verge of tears cause she is a kid and sometimes kids get overwhelmed by things like this. I don't judge her for it.

Casey Abrams - Joe Cocker (The Beatles) - Little Help From My Friends
I'm expecting this to be awesome. Be awesome, Casey. BE TEH AWESOME. He "wants to be felt". Omg. Win. Oh how I love his growl. Oh how I love his inventiveness. Oh I love his humor & confidence. Oh I love his range. He makes me smile.
J-Lo - Amazing notes & pitch. She is watching somebody important. Wow. Blew her away.
Randy - So unbelievable, so exciting, hits all the notes, makes listening to him sing fun. Loved it.
Steven - Casey is a rainbow of talent. A plethora of passion. Never ceases to amaze him.

I think Casey is what everyone *wanted* Lee Dewyze to be. Lee wasn't it. Casey is. Oh god early frontrunners make me nervous.

Ashthon Jones - Diana Ross - When You Tell Me That You Love Me
Girl trying to be something she isn't yet, if she ever gets there. But damned if she isn't trying. She doesn't sound bad. Actually parts of it sound quite good. But overall, it just doesn't come together for me. Meh.
Randy - Was worried about the song choice, but he actually liked it, thought she grew as a singer, going into the vibratto when she was about to go off
Steven - Has confidence in her to show us more
J-Lo - Very elegant, very professional, wants her to sing songs that are more well known. Loves her.

There is a shot of Paul. I squeal. I think this means I'm officially in love.

Paul McDonald - Ryan Adams - Come Pick Me Up
Ohmygod his idol is Ryan Adams ohmygod I love him so much ohmygod. Ohmygod he is so cute. Ohmygod he is so weird. I want to cuddle with him. Never kick him off. NEVER. He has everything Vote For The Worst would want and everything I would want. Please keep him forever omg lovehearttt.
Steven - Loves the rasp & character in his voice, but was a little pitchy. Needs to nail it next time, but he loves his voice
J-Lo - So unique, something about him, he moved the crowd, hopes America gets it. J-Lo doesn't know Ryan Adams and Paul tells her to check him out.
Randy - Loves the character of how Paul is and loves Ryan Adams. Randy knows a lot about music. It's awesome. Paul is different, Randy hopes America gets it cause Randy sure does.

OHMYGOD THERE IS A PAUL DANCE NOW YES GOOD VOTES YES GOOD ITS A THING GOOD

Pia Toscano - Celine Dion (Eric Carmen) - All By Myself
This is a big ass song to take on. Can she handle it? It's kind of neat to have a contestant that CAN really go for these songs they always say never to do. We think she is a little too glam and serious, but she can certainly sing her face off. FACE. OFF. Face Off levels of singing. Damn, girl. Major love from the audience.
J-Lo - Literally speechless for a moment. She topped last week. Beautiful.
Randy - Always say don't tackle Whitney/Mariah/Celine, but she has that quality, she hits those notes dead on, without even thinking about it, natural gift, in awe of her. Very hot, dope, cool.
Steven - She just polished that apple! Wished her Happy International Women's Day. She slammed it. Beautiful.

James Durbin - Paul McCartney - Baby I'm Amazed
This *could* be cool. I'm intrigued. A little off at the start. But I'm actually kind of enjoying it. The song is a little bigger than he his, but he's certainly going for it. Overall, better than I was expecting from him this week.
Randy - One of Randy's favorites. Loves voices that can sing anything. Judas Priest last week, Paul McCartney this week and slayed it. Showed his sensitive side.
Steven - Kicked it into the middle of next week. Just sang his own review or something incomprehensible.
J-Lo - Advises him to let em clap when they want to clap. Melodic quality to his voice, which the greatest rock singers have.

Haley Reinhart - LeAnn Rimes - Blue
Holy effing shit I LOVE this girl's voice. She has one of the bottom line best voices on this season. Plus she's super cute! This is NOT an easy song to sing. Like. Not. Like. DIFFICULT. Holy shit. I LOVE HER.
Steven - Beautiful. America is roaring. Knew Leann when she recorded it and was a song Patsy Cline never recorded. Did such a good thing, thanks her!
J-Lo - America is getting to know her now. She can do such diverse things with her voice, very special, very unique. Really special, really good job.
Randy - Likes that she can sing anything. Thought it was a little boring. (TO WHICH I SAY WHAT?!) Thinks she is young and could be more energetic. J-Lo interjects and says Haley is always sensual and always brings it. Randy thinks it was a little sleepy.

Um. I thought Haley just KILLED it. Randy. Not the time to criticize for the sake of criticism.

Jacob Lusk - R. Kelly - I Believe I Can Fly
I'd be happy never hearing an R Kelly song again, but am actually kind of excited to hear Jacob inevitably kill it. Hmm. He infuses his own gospel flavor into the song and does an okay job. The notes this kid can hit are still stellar. Does some crazy shit in the middle. A little pitchy here and there, but he's in it. Not great overall though.
Steven - Pure passion, pure music, so good, can't judge it.
J-Lo - Very hard to judge him, make them feel so much when he sings because he feels so much. Amazing.
Randy - Has such a signature sound and that's what singing is about. Kind of fell off in the B Verse but by the end, he was unbelievable. Excited whenever he hits the stage.

Thia Megia - Michael Jackson (Charlie Chaplin) - Smile
She doesn't know who Charlie Chaplin is. Awe. Kids. Ooooh, she has a cool voice, doesn't she? Such a mature tone, I cannot believe this girl is 15. Is she tricking us? She is definitely channeling Michael with her voice on this one. Nuts that she even can. It's okay.
Randy - Loved the intro, heard the Michael in her, even heard a little Adele in there, got a little pitchy when the jazzy arrangement started, all in all good, loved the beginning more than the end. Wished whole song was like the beginning.
Steven - Agrees. Pitchy in the middle, but so new, young, sings so good -[sic] but she gave it up, thanks her
J-Lo - The beginning reminded J-Lo of last week and that's where Thia's strength is, just hearing her voice, it's transcendent. J-Lo liked seeing her movie, wants more of that, but doesn't matter, she sings like an angel.

Thia agrees and felt better in the beginning of the song. Did anyone else get to please their case and I missed it? I've probably just been distracted by thinking about Paul.

Stefano Lagone - Stevie Wonder - Lately
He starts a little off. Hope he fixes it and fast cause I think his voice his awesome. Fix it, fix it, Stefano! Yeah, just keep hitting those high notes. That's what I like. Don't go low. AH! This performance is giving me anxiety. YES, high notes, that's what we like. Studio version on iTunes is much better.
Steven - Pulled it off, built from beginning to end, was like a volcano, great arrangement, beautiful
J-Lo - Had her dancing. Not easy to take a classic ballad and do a dance remix. Sounded great.
Randy - Started off rocky, SO hard to sing Stevie, but Stevie would be proud cause by the middle of the song he was soaring and slayed it

Aw. I like him. He is nice and cute.

Karen Rodriguez - Selina - I Could Fall In Love
Starts off a little weird. Too low at the start. Not really into this as a song choice. Very generic sounding. She doesn't sing poorly, but it just doesn't really stand out. Meh and boring and forgettable.
J-Lo - She looked beautiful, but was obviously a little uncomfortable with the notes. Thinks she is normally spot on, wasn't tonight, but is really strong, so hope she makes it to next week.
Randy - Felt like she was fighting the song. A little sleepy. Not exciting.
Steven - Agrees. Energy was lacking. Knows she can sing so much better than that.

Aw. Yeah she normally sings better than that.But is kind of zzz anyway, so...

Scottie McCreary - Garth Brooks - The River
His voice IS country. He is the country of country. He makes me giggle with his spot on good voiced countryness. He hasn't quite mastered the art of holding the mic to his mouth to maximum capacity, but he'll figure that out. Ohmygod he is so country, I am loltowning over here. Audience LOVES it.
Randy - If it aint broke, don't even think about fixing it. Great song, exactly where Scottie belongs, could put a record out right now, loves it
Steven - Did the Garth justice. He is riding high like Roy Rogers. He may have also quoted Roy Rogers. (Steven. What are you saying ever.)
J-Lo - Saw him open up as a performer. Took the audience on the ride with him, was comfortable and that was great to see from him

Naima Adedapo - Rihanna - Umbrella
I was not expecting Rihanna to be Naima's idol. Hrm. That's kind of awesome that she gets to work on it with the original producer of the song. What! She dances?! A little off in terms of notes at times. My favorite parts were when she infused herself into the song. Those parts were awesome sauce. Very unexpected and interesting, glad she was wild carded into this, will be very cool to see what she does next.
Steven - She is crazy good, he loves her. She was a little pitchy, but she brought flavor tonight that no one else has done, brought another little something and he adores her for that
J-Lo - Doesn't care about the pitchy, she's got fire, dancing, reggae flavor, rapping, doing it like a real recording artist does it. Needs to work on the control. Glad she did what she did.
Randy - DOES care about the pithiness. Gotta make sure you have the breath to have the control if she's gonna dance. Loved the whole reggae thing, wants her to stay in that and go for that.

NAIMA OVERSTANDS. She doesn't understand. She overstands. SHE IS CRAY CRAY. I'm in.

Overall, an ok show. But lots of potential this year. Excited to see what happens next week. Loving having the producers helping them. Not loving the judges being too easy on everyone and picking strange times to be critical.

My top three: Casey, Pia, Haley
My bottom three: Karen, Ashthon, first half of Jacob combined with the second half of Thia
Going home: I'm really worried about Lauren Alaina. I hope she's safe. She has an amazing voice, has just been picking the wrong songs. In all honesty, Karen was hands down the weakest tonight, so I'm predicting her, but it could easily be Ashthon, who, of the two, was the one the audience didn't vote for last week.