The Girls Shine While the Boys Falter: A recap of the first week of competition

The Boys:

Top 3 Performaces

1. Blake Lewis – “Somewhere Only We Know” – I know someone is good when they sing a song I’ve never heard of and it captivates me. Blake’s performance was great. I expect this performance take him into the top 12.
2. Chris Richardson – “I Don’t Want to be” – There’s something I loved about this performance and yet something I hated. He had great energy and it was definitely one of the more memorable performances of the evening. This song was one of Bo Bice’s signature songs but Chris made it his own. However, the way he sang it, was at times, a little weird.
3. Phil Stacey – “I Could Not Ask For More” – He started off very shakey, but he found his groove in the middle and brought it home at the end.

The Bottom Three:

There were so many bad performances it’s hard to say. Rudy Cardenas’ mediocre performance coupled with being the first to sing puts him at serious risk. While Paul Kim was just bad – really bad. And then there’s Nick Pedro who I barely remember, but my notes tell me he was boring and forgettable.

The Girls:

Top 3 Performances:

1. Lakisha Jones – “And I am Telling You, I’m Not Going” – By far one of the best performances on any season of idol. She put the competition into high gear with her tear jerking performance. Randy said “Jennifer Hudson watch out.” For those of you who don’t know Jennifer won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Dreamgirls and “And I am Telling You, I’m Not Going” was the song that brought the house down. It was no surprise when she was nominated for the Oscar either. The judges were right that performance was in another league.
2. Melinda Doolittle – “Since You Been Gone” – I thought Melinda would be the drama queen this year until Lakisha came on stage. Melinda actually reminds me of Jennifer Hudson more so than Lakisha. But even so Melinda still did a great job. Who can’t help but like her humbleness and sweet innocent nature.
3. Unlike with the guys where it was quite easy to pick the top three it’s not so easy with the girls. There were several third place contenders. Sabrina Sloan’s rendition of “Never Loved a Man The Way That I Love You” was captivating. Haley Scarnato’s rendition of “It’s All Coming Back to Me,” gave me chills. And Gina Glocksen’s rendition of “All By Myself,” was spectacular.

The Bottom Three:

The girls were hands above the guys’ performances. But even so there were some that put me to sleep and made me cringe. The worst of them was Nicole Tranquillo. Her song choice was the worst out of the boys and girls. It just didn’t work at all. She’s in serious trouble. Amy Krebs did OK but by the end of the show most viewers were probably thinking Krebs who? And there’s Antonella Barba, who received a lot of air-time in Hollywood and who had one of the few memorable auditions. But because her attitude and demeanor in Hollywood she’s already at a disadvantage.