Top 12 Results
Here we go–a two-shot of Ace Young and Kevin Covais sitting together, awaiting their fate. Ace, the hot-looking golden boy and one-time front runner is in the bottom three. Kevin, the bespectacled, nerdy little choir boy, with more chutzpah than vocal talent, is safe. The audience starts booing. Dang, the producers didn’t waste any time did they? Kevin–who has been cast as the foil, and the boy-who-stays-too-long, in a sitcom that has some singing–was put right to work fulfilling his destiny on this particular season of AI. So, hey, don’t ya all go hatin’ on the boy. He’s just doing his job. And despite his what-the-eff performance Tuesday night (or maybe because of it?) he’s doing
it quite well, I might add.
So ya all just take a chill and settle down. Ace Young in the bottom three isn’t exactly the tragedy it’s cracked up to be anyway. Ace has had only one really good performance since the start of the semis–“Father Figure.” And the last two weeks, he’s been performing as if this competition is completely out of his league. Personally, I thought Ace was over-hyped from the beginning. Now, I think the viewers are seeing through the pimpage. If Ace wants to stay in the game, he’s going to have to step it up, period. Not surprisingly, he was the first to sit down. He dodged a bullet. Now he has to change his strategy. Ace is capable of a good performance–he just needs to choose better songs. At this point, though, I think Ace is strictly middle of the pack. If he leaves in 5th place that will be very good for him.
Next to hit the seal–Melissa McGhee–in probably the most underwhelmingly dramatic moment of the night. Who didn’t see that coming? Not Melissa. Lisa Tucker’s appearance in the bottom 3 didn’t surprise me either. She’s a beautiful, poised young girl who definitely has talent, but hasn’t done much to distinguish herself in the competition. Her performances are competent, but forgettable. I don’t sense much buzz around Lisa. Contestants who don’t ignite passions in either direction are usually the first to go. I don’t think she’ll place higher than nine. At this point, I don’t see how Lisa could improve her game quickly. She really needs a few more years to grow into her talent.
Finally, after the break, Melissa is eliminated. I’m not sure that singing in tune and remembering her lyrics the night before would have helped keep her chances alive. But, despite Tuesday’s missteps, she fought hard to stay in it–she’s a plucky one. Her farewell video ended with a clip of her singing “Lately” (not forgetting the words) and Simon telling her afterward that it was her best performance ever. Ahhh…so there you go. Well played Simon! Bravo. Poor un-pimped Melissa barely even got a singout. And since she finished 12th, she’s still signed to the draconian Top 12 contract, but won’t be included on the summer tour–where the kids finally get to make some real money for their efforts. Bummer.
The first half of the show: The Ford commercials featuring the contestants are usually some good cheesy fun. Tonight’s commercial was cute. After the break, Stevie Wonder performed. I think I dozed off about half-way through. Well, not really. Stevie’s early stuff was rockin’, but he hasn’t produced any interesting music in years. This particular tune was pretty much the same old same old.
Tonight’s show was delightfully short. Really, don’t want, don’t need my results longer than 30 minutes. That’s just enough time for the kids to perform a scary-cheesy group number and to announce the next casualty. It’s all good.