OK, it wasn't the most gripping episode ever, since Idol didn't have a lot of time to tease us with suspense. With just a few surprises, almost everyone they featured will be in the top 24. That said, I am curious to see how these finalists do perform when competing against each other—we're finally into the part of the show where we can start getting to know and love (and hate! Oh, the hate) the contestants which is one of the best parts.
While I don't actually have anything to hate about Tyler Grady, I'm not a fan of his Peter Frampton look. Dressing and styling yourself like a '70's singer as opposed to just channeling the '70's in your music is so Jason Castro. I think what I actually did hate was how he brought out Kara's stupid side. "Fancy seeing you all here," he said, greeting the judges. "I like that word, 'fancy," Kara says. "You're kind of a '70's guy, aren't you?" Those two things don't have anything to do with one another. I feel in some ways she's the new Randy, just talking, adding nothing.
I liked Lacey Brown, who made the top 50 last season, for saying that the judges made the right decision to give her another year to grow. It was a professional thing to say, and I'm a sucker for someone who seems a little seasoned. Crystal Bowersox made it through, too. I like her, I've decided—she could be Amanda Overmeyer done right. I even liked her sweepy widdle baby. Also no surprise was Katie Stevens (Alzheimer's grandma) making it through: she seems very prepackaged Idol material, not necessarily in a bad way, but with a big voice, cute conventional face and nice story, she seems perfect for the top 24.
It was odd hearing one of my favorite Radiohead tunes, "No Surprises," playing over a portion of the episode but that's what they chose for the clips of delivering the bad news. The girl with a big supply of colorful ironic glasses didn't go through, and neither did the chick with the super-high voice who flew in from Florence for her audition.
I was actually surprised the Angela Martin from Chicago got cut, even though I knew she wasn't in the top 24. I had heard that she wasn't in and part of it had to do with her mother going missing (poor Angela, seriously) but I didn't know she got cut. I'm sure it really meant a lot to her to have Kara DioGuardi sit next to her (IE make her sit on the arm of the chair) and tell her she was going to remember her forever. If I may quote Randy: "Ugh!"
Thaddeus also didn't make the cut, which I kind of predicted because the show portrayed him having way more confidence than you're allowed on this show. He sobbed. More importantly, how would you describe his haircut? It's sort of like a dome to me, a grown-in mohawk.
Rounding out the folks who made it tonight included Lilly Scott, John Park, Haeley Vaughn and Andrew Garcia. I pray that Andrew overcomes his slight resemblance to Danny Gokey because that is not a plus in my book.
Next week your top 24 performs live, and do I have some good news for you people: I will be out of the country and the lovely and talented Leonard Pierce will take over for me. Bad news: I will be back the week after.
Stray observations:
—Helpful tip for people who hate spoilers: if you're not watching Idol in real time, don't Google contestants' names because the Twitter feed on Google will probably tell you what happened to them.
—Jannell Wheeler, word to the wise: everything is harder than American Idol.
—Weird. I just Googled Wheeler to check the spelling of her name and it turns out she is Tim Tebow's girlfriend. I hope they have safe sex.
—What dance would you do if you made the top 24? I think I would skip the dance and just do push-ups, Jack Palance-style.