One More Time With Idol

I kinda thought I was done talking about Idol, but I got a request to chatter about it from a good friend of mine.

I left a few of my thoughts on Facebook, with a promise to expand on them here. So… here we go.

First, I should probably deal with who we’ve lost.

Casey: My newest theory on Casey? I think he got tired of the grind. He knew he would never win, and so he sang an anti-song and got dropped.

Why do I think that?

Here goes: Casey almost got dropped pretty early because it seems no one likes the Casey growl. Casey seemed well aware of that fact, if you look at his next couple of performances.

First, he did a nice Elton John song, sitting on a stool like a sweet little boy doing something cute so you’ll give him cake. He did well in the voting arena.

He followed that up by doing CCR, in a way that would offend pretty much no one. It was sort of dull, but he pulled out the bass to remind people of how much they loved this adorable and quirky dude.

The next week, he did “Nature Boy,” and he whipped out the jazz. He was toeing a line, and watching him, it seemed obvious to me that he knew he was doing it. He had the game worked out, and he knew just how far he could carry it.

Then he whipped out the growl again. He might as well have walked onstage with a live grenade.

I said up-top he was tired of the grind, and that sounds kind of right to me. Or maybe he just knew he wasn’t going to win, and he knew he had his fans, so he pulled the pin and walked.

Or, perhaps the rumors that he and Haley are together are true, and he went, “Eh, I’ll throw my votes towards her,” and exited stage left.

So now, let’s talk bottom four:

Haley: I’m putting her here, and maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I swear she’s trying to get eliminated as well.

I’ll give her some credit. When she picks the right song, she can put on a really terrific performance. But she either doesn’t understand how the game is played, or she’s trying to get cut at this point.

I’m not much of a Jennifer Lopez fan, but she seems to be trying to help Hayley, and Randy’s been pretty straight-up about his feelings as well – Hayley doesn’t seem to have any idea what she’s doing. She picks random songs (A Michael Jackson non-hit? A Lady Gaga song almost no one’s heard?) and then ARGUES with the judges when they try to give her advice.

I’d feel better about what she’s doing if she seemed to have a pattern. But starting back when she sang “Blue” (why?) it’s clear she has no real identity as a performer. Maybe she really is just that random. But it’s doing her no favors, and makes for some agonizing song choices.

So, yeah. I’d say she was going this week, if not for:

Lauren: People seem to really like Lauren, which is sweet and all, but she spent a lot of last night explaining to people that she isn’t, you know, evil. My wife and I have picked up on the fact that she’s sixteen, and doesn’t have a ton of life experience, but…

I think she’s either just TOO eager to please, or kind of dumb.

Some of that might be age. When she’s 26, and has actually lived life a bit, she might take on some emotional depth. But, yeah… no. She’s a little lost puppy-dog child who sings pretty, and that’s nice.

That gets you votes on AI, I guess. But I’d feel better about her if the only time she opened her mouth was to sing.

So we’re up to:

Scotty: Yeah, he’s going to have a career, and a nice one. I still think they should get him and Lauren together, put out a couple of CDs, and put them on tour starting in the fall.

Someone who wants to make money, and a lot of it.

Of all the survivors up to this point, Scotty has grown the most. He’s still doing his all-country, all the time thing, but he’s learned to relate to an audience instead of squatting and holding his microphone oddly.

If he wins, I won’t buy his records. They won’t be my thing. But I won’t be hurt if he wins.

James: I called it WAY WAY WAY back. James is going to take this, because he can sing anything. He has a huge heart as well, and he shows it to the audience, and they eat it up.

When he stops singing, the audience in the studio takes FOREVER to shut up, so the judges can talk.

Yeah. He’s going to take it. And if he doesn’t, he’s still going to sell better than anyone else on Idol this year.