Thursday, February 20, 2014

AI Season 13- Rush Week Elimination, 02-20-14


Ryan opens by mentioning that 75,000 contenders are now whittled down to 20. We segue into a recap of the last two nights, which I did already and don't intend to do again. We also hear clips of each of the Top 10 guys singing, and yes, I still feel exactly the same way that I did last night.

Ryan is wearing a black jacket over a black shirt with an open collar. JLo is wearing a complicated slinky halter dress. The black slim skirt hits at mid-knee. The front bodice is a diamond, with the bottom point tucked into the skirt and the top attached to the neck straps. The bodice back looks like a bra. Her hair is in a smooth topknot, and her makeup is nude-ish. HCJ has a black cloth shirt and glasses and Keith has a black tee shirt.

JLo explains that the Top 5 Gals and the Top 5 Guys, based on the last two days' votes, will be called down. And then from the remaining 10 kids, 5 will be called to sing again. After that, the judges will choose their 3 Wild Cards. Combined, they'll make the Top 13.

I settle in, waiting for  Top 20 Group Sing, but Ryan signals to lower the lights. Whoa, it's eight minutes into the show and we're already naming names. No filler, no Randy Jackson rambling, no clips of the kids visiting something. Results. Now. Who are you, and what have you done with my show?

So, in very short order, with no hoopla or stalling, Ryan announces the Top 10 Vote Getters:

#1. Malaya Watson, in a black top and acid washed jeans and huge hair. Malaya is hyper as hell, but happy.
#2. Ben Briley, looking like a bearded Andy Dwyer.
#3. Emily Piriz, in a light denim shorty jacket and high waisted flare-leg pants with a huge blue and white print.
#4. Alex Preston, in jeans short enough to show that he's not wearing socks.
#5. Jessica Meuse, in a black dress and long, lacy black cardigan.
#6. Dexter Roberts, wearing the same stuff he wore last night except his shirt is gray.
#7. Caleb Johnson, in a black jacket that is either velvet or no-wale corduroy, over a gray plaid shirt.
#8. Majesty Rose, wearing Aunt Mabel's house dress. Her hair is mushroomed up and restrained by a band of flowers.

Ryan finally remembers to mention that the finalists are being named in no particular order.

#9. M.K. Nobilette, in a black leather jacket and a stupid backwards ball cap. (Note: it's not the cap that I object to, or even the backwardness of it. It's the fact that it sits way up on top of her head, making her look like Justin Beiber. Why MK wants to remind me of that twerp is beyond me).
#10. Sam Wolfe, in a jacket with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows.

Well, that was amazing. In the entire history of the show, I've never seen anything dealt with in such a straight-forward manner. Of this grouping, I object only to Emily Piriz.

And without further ado, HCJ calls C.J. Harris as a Wild Card Hopeful. C.J. is wearing a blue oxford shirt and last night's Outback hat. He's singing his Hollywood solo, Bring It On Home. this is bluesy and heartfelt and I like it a lot.
HCJ- the band and C.J. were not together, it was not good.
JLo- loves the specialness of C.J.'s voice.
Keith- says C.J. drifted in and out emotionally.

Keith calls Jena *Not Jenna, Dammit* Irene. She's wearing a black leather jacket over a black top, and white jeans with wide black stripes down the side seam. She's sitting at the piano. I don't know this song, but she sounds good.
Keith- made good use of the moment.

Commercial Note: the more clips I see for Surviving Jack, the more I know that I will never, ever, ever watch that show.

JLo calls Spencer Lloyd... of course she does. This kid is a pretty, empty shell wearing a black leather jacket and playing a guitar. He's doing okay with this slow-dance song, except for that final note.
JLo- wanted to give Spencer another chance after last night, but is not sure now.

HCJ calls Bria Anai, who has ditched the glitter lips for tonight. She's wearing a pink, yellow, and black tiger print tank over a tube top, and a short, flared bold yellow and black print skirt. The camera better be careful, or we're going to get an undie shot shortly. Bria is singing It's A Man's Man's Man's Man's World, and this performance is far too shouty. The last note is painfully bad.
HCJ- Bria was all over the place, passionate but not in tune.

We're down to the final Wild Card selection. The camera pans over the rest of the kids sitting dejectedly, though all of them except Emmanuel smile weakly. Emmanuel is glowering. Or maybe plotting murder.

Keith calls Kristin O'Connor as the final Wild Card Hopeful. Seriously? I would even trade Mini Miley for her. And I definitely would have taken Savion Wright. Kristin is wearing pink tie-dyed pants with a high pleated waist and black stripes down the sides, and a black knit crop top with 3/4 sleeves. Wow, this performance is terrible, from beginning to end. Bad all the way through.
Keith- good but in the wrong key.

Judges: deliberate, confab, mumble, pretend to choose, mumble, confab, deliberate.
Wild Card Hopefuls: huddle hopefully on stage.
Of the five, I only like Jena and C.J.

And once again, with no fanfare, Keith names WC#1: Jena Irene
HCJ, with a really horrible pun, names WC#2: Kristin O'Connor (Note: sigh)
JLo names WC#3- C.J. (Note: Woot!)

So, next week The Top 13 perform, and more eliminations follow. Let the good times roll.

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