Rosado's Recaps: American Idol - The Cultute of Pop, DVD, Movie, TV, Pop Culture Review

Rosado's Recaps: American Idol

Posted: Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:06:41 PST

Season 10, Episode 8 (2-10-11)

Well, it's nitty gritty time in the land of Idol. Last stop, Hollywood with 327 hopefuls who made the grade in seven cities spanning the country, earning one more shot to prove first impressions weren't flukes.

Some will encore with ease, other voices shall crack. Some will be overconfident, some won't have enough. Some will have ice water in their veins, others will fall prey to nerves. Certain dreams will continue, others will be silenced.

Welcome to the musical equivalent of hell week once again, Idol revelers....and let's not waste a minute getting into my thoughts on the first phase of this pivotal part of the competition.

Brett Lowenstein-Remember this guy? Mick Hucknall/Simply Red doppelganger? Delivers a gospel tinged version of Let It Be with the same kind of fire he brought to his first audition...and the Boca Raton based Brett is moving on.

­Rachel Zevita-Big Apple gal who took a hop, skip and a jump to strut her stuff in Jersey. Gets through easily and deservedly.

Thia Megia-Ah, yes...the one I predict might have a good shot at delivering teen pop..and she hasn't lost any of her ability at all since her Milwaukee try out. Mountain View Megia is in!

Casey Abrams-The bearded Seth Rogen look-a-like with the strong, powerful, gritty set of pipes that hold tremendous potential with rock and roll tunes did even better than his Austin audition.

Victoria Huggins-Oh, my. The annoying girl with the equally annoying speaking voice; like if you mixed Britney Spears with nails across a blackboard. Ouch. But to be fair, her voice isn't too bad...but her stage movements were equivalent to that of an unrehearsed beauty pageant contestant.

I don't like to get joy from dismissals like these, but whew....

James Durbin-Here's the guy we all fell in love with at the end of last night's San Fran auditions. But unlike his perfect performance 24 hours earlier, he frightened me with a bordering on over-the-top rendition of Oh! Darling. Judges thought it was okay, thankfully. But Lord, I hope he dials it down a couple of notches next week.

Paris Tassin-Louisiana mom with the hard of hearing child strained a bit in the higher range, but she's so, so close to finding her voice..and that could be why the judges kept her around...Like James, I really wanna see her succeed, too.

Stormi Henley-Steven Tyler's fave from Twang Town gave it her best shot in the land of Tinsel, but something got lost in the vocal translation between the Volunteer State and California. Curtains.

Lauren Alaina-Georgia girl who made the trek to the Nashville tryouts glided to safety in phase one of the Hollywood week.

Chris Medina-The Illinois native who brought a heartbreaking story to the Milwaukee auditions sounded even better the second time around..and doesn't his hairdo remind you classic rockers a little of Jimmy Page?

Jacquelyn Dupree-Mississippi gal who had Steven so happy during her Hollywood debut, he was tapping on a cup of some kind. One to keep an eye on.

Hollie Cavanagh-Remember this Texas girl who let her nerves get the best of her in Austin, and sweetly asked for another chance? Talk about most improved from hairdo to confidence. Another female vocalist we need to keep tabs on.

Steve Beghun-The Wisconsin tax accountant whose approval by the judges had me scratching my head, had his 15 minutes of fame run out. Got it right this time, gang.

Sara Sellers-Texas gal who bared a slight resemblance to Bonnie Hunt also fell by the wayside.

Heidi Khzam-Belly dancing hips can only take you so far in a musical competition; Au revoir.

Rob Bolin and Chelsee Oaks-Our two former lovebirds still haven't rekindled their relationship, but their talent remains intact. Rob's the lesser vocalist of the two, but he did a nice job on the Hank Williams standard I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, while Chelsee did a super job on her song. Happily, our Nashville duo get to stay together (in separate rooms, of course).

Nick Fink and Jacqueline Dunford-Remember our ever so slightly aggravating, touchy-feely Arizona lovey-birds? How COULD we forget when a video package was crammed into our craniums. But, hey, they had nice voices at their tryout, but what about under the glare of the Hollywood lights?

Nick's voice was pleasant in lounge lizard fashion, but Jackie sang rings around him. So much so, that I cringed when a commercial break came up at the end of their tryout. Even Marlee Matlin could've told us the outcome in advance; no need for an unnecessary cliffhanger. While I feel for Nick, I gotta say something to future Idol auditioneers: Please, please, please don't attempt another audition once the judges bang their verbal gavels. Such moments look like something out of a schlocky movie musical.

Editorial mode off; back to the recap....

Scott McCreery-Oh yeah, man; that deep voiced country boy who just might be our next Alan Jackson nailed it again, baby!!!

Jackie Wilson-Not one of my favorites, but a passable enough performance to go thru.

Jerome Bell-Soulful Motown-esque guy with the David Ruffin horn rimmed glasses basically recreated his previous audition well enough, but I wonder if he's a one trick pony...We'll see next week.

Tiffany Rios-New Jersey gal fortunately left her stars (ahem!) at home this time. But she definitely brought her voice...LOUDLY...so loudly, I thought she was gonna explode like a Spinal Tap drummer. Way, way, WAY over the top for me, but the judges let her go thru.

Travis Orlando-Bronx boy who had a touching back story did fine to me in the vocal department, but his awkward stage moves must have did him in..But he takes it well and says he'll be back next year...Just 16 years old, he's got plenty of time to practice the footwork and become the complete package.

Well, thanks to an all new Bones (on FOX!), the usual two-hour Hollywood shows of years past had to be pared back, and so we quickly learned of others we'll (hopefully) be seeing more of next week including Clint Jun Gamboa, Julie Zorilla, Stefano Longone, Emily Anne Reed, Mark and Aaron Gutierrez, Molly DeWolfe Swenson (cool, the White House intern), and last but not least, the emotion wearing potential great television train wreck with elements of Judy Garland, Tammy Faye and Star Search's Sam Harris, Ashley Sullivan!

Wednesday will not be here soon enough. Anybody got any connections with Seacrest for an advance screener?

Yeah, I know...like Michael Jackson told Paul McCartney in The Girl Is Mine, (I'll) keep dreamin'. But until then, why don't you bookmark me for weekend Grammy coverage (including an article about the very first ceremony in 1959), the debuts of Rosado's Reader and Twitter Favorite Of The Day, a post-show report on The Bachelor, and more....

-J.R.

Jeffrey Rosado is a writer, performer, pop culture historian, and all around nice guy...until you overstay your welcome after I've given you my musical verdict, and try to sing your way back into my heart...and out of tune to boot.

Follow Jeff on Twitter: marquee_man