Okay, so Dish Network lost the Fox feed for the first approx. 14 minutes of the show. It flashed back on with the Top 15 Girls all sitting together nervously, and JLo talking.
#1. JLo calls Majesty Rose. Evidently Randy Jackson was a large presence during *Rush Week*. He interviews Majesty about her poofy hair. Adam Lambert, dressed almost mournfully (no eye makeup) coaches Majesty on Pharell's Happy. On stage, Majesty is wearing wine colored flood pants and a cute jacket with horizontal stripes. Her hair is, indeed, poofy. Majesty is adorable, but I think she's a little more tightly wound than usual, though given that she did not know that she was going to sing until just that moment, it's understandable.
JLo- in a long sleeved, blue, sparkly dress, beautiful hair and makeup, and a couple of those rings that span the length of an entire finger, was charmed.
HCJ- says that Majesty is in the Top 10 Girls, which makes me wonder if I missed five eliminations in that first segment.
Keith: His new hairstyle adds too much height to his already oblong face.
Anyway, all three judges like Majesty.
Okay, so it looks like I didn't miss any eliminations- the judges are just going to call out the Chosen 10 to sing, one at a time, and the others are going to sit there for the whole live show and be tortured and then sent home. Nice going, Show- you've elevated meanness to a whole new level.
#2. HCJ begins his choice by saying that she's a nurse, and Kristin O'Connor jumps up and runs down before he even says her name. Good thing there isn't more than one nurse in the Top 15. Randy talks about nothing and Kristin wears a Debby Boone hat during her interview. Chris Daughtry advises Kristin to do something, but I'm not sure what. I really am not impressed with Kristin. On stage, she's wearing a very heavy-looking silvery spangled sleeveless top over raggy black jeans. She sings with a lot of teeth, and I am still not particularly impressed.
HCJ: praises Kristin, but the praise has a faint feel to it.
Keith- Likes Kristin's range, which is not quite the same as liking Kristin's voice. Or liking Kristin.
JLo- likes Kristin's tone, and then goes on to critique the actual performance.
#3.Keith calls down Brianna Oakley. Randy asks Brianna what she needs to work on as a performer, and then interrupts her when she tries to answer. Randy tells her to loosen up and connect with the audience more. On stage, Brianna is wearing a tight dress with a light gray chevron pattern and odd black piping and outlines. You all know how much I dislike mullet skirts (longer in back than in the front), but this mullet skirt is perhaps the ugliest one I've ever seen. Brianna perches half on and half off the stool to sing. She interprets the advice to connect with the audience by opening her eyes very widely, which is amazing given that her false eyelashes are huge and look very heavy.
Keith- loves her tone but says that she didn't find her zone until the last quarter of the song.
JLo- notes that Brianna is scared and did not do that connecting thing that Randy mentioned.
HCJ- cautions not to over use the Big Notes, that dialing it back once in a while is a good thing.
#4. JLo calls Jena (not Jenna) Irene. The Irene is new, but the Jena not Jenna is old enough to be boring. Randy calls her Jenna. Daughtry tells Jena to keep her eyes steady, that darting them around makes her look frightened. On stage, Not Jenna is wearing a loose, belted pale gray dress with drop shoulders, and dramatic bracelets. She has really pretty eyes. I like Not Jenna in general, but this version of Paint it Black is pretty bad- screechy and overwrought, and far too high in her register.
JLo- the performance had a nice sultry quality.
HCJ- asks Not Jenna if she understood the meaning of the song (Not Jenna chirps: Darkness).
Keith- was more enthusiastic about this one than the previous couple of performances.
#5. HCJ calls Bria Anai, she of the glittery lips. Randy asks Bria about her style (Appropriate Rhianna, Bria says...). On stage, she's wearing black sparkly skinny pants, a white blazer over a black top, very red fingernails, and red glittery lipstick. Bria sings with lots of fist pumping and squatty moves. I would much rather hear her sing in her lower register.
HCJ: cautions Bria to beware of being shouty.
Keith: says to dial it back and let her voice carry the performance.
JLo- says exactly the same thing as HCJ and Keith, but more gently.
Only HCJ gets booed.
Oh- Ryan is wearing a natty charcoal striped suit, and his front hair is reaching for the rafters.
#6. Keith calls Marielle Sellars, aka Mini Miley. Randy talks about Marielle's hair (floopy Mohawk). Adam tells Marielle to slow down on Roar. On stage, Marielle is wearing a black cropped halter top and black pants with a lot of belly button showing, red very tall shoes, and a hair tumor. The thing about Roar is that it's more of a chant than a song- it only gets melodic in the chorus, and even then it's pretty limited. Katy Perry is really the only one who can fool an audience into thinking that *oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh* is a lyric, and that possibly because she sometimes shoots fireworks from her boobs. I would have liked this so much better if Marielle had listened to Adam Lambert, and slowed the whole thing down.
Keith- not the best song, not the best tempo, not the best performance.
JLo- wished it had been sung slower and with more heart.
HCJ- mentions the importance of singing in tune.
#7. JLo calls Jessica Meuse, the Pink Streaked Drama Magnet. Randy asks Jessica what she's going to sing. Daughtry asides that Jessica's voice is stronger than her guitar playing, and he gently tries to talk her into ditching the guitar. On stage, Jessica is in all black, playing a huge-ass guitar. That said, this is a good performance. Jessica's voice is full and mature, and she does well with what I think is a Carrie Underwood song.
JLo- mentions visible nervousness.
HCJ- mentions intonation and a tendency to go sharp.
Keith- cautions against smiling during sad songs.
#8. HCJ calls Emily Piriz. Randy reminds Emily that HCJ already expressed discomfort with a young girl singing sexually explicit songs in general, and Emily's current song choice in particular. Emily says that she's singing the emotion of the song, not the words. On stage, Emily wears a black crop top with long gold tassels, and leather pants. HCJ is right, this song is downright creepy, what with lyrics about being shaved bald and being put on the floor and all. And Emily, knowing that one of the three judges on the show she hopes to win is deeply uncomfortable with that song, decided to sing it again. I suspect that choice will come back to bite her.
HCJ- asks Emily to speak the first two lines of the song, which Emily cannot do without giggling (btw, Emily's dad is enjoying all of this hugely, which is more than a little creepy all by itself). He asks Emily if this is the kind of music that she really wants to sing, and asks her what the song is really about. Emily declares it to be about female empowerment.
Keith- reminds Emily to trust her own artistry, not to sing into a mirror to try to become more Rock.
JLo- loves Emily.
#9. Keith calls M.K. Nobilette, which thrills me. Randy tells M.K. to give it her all. With her backwards hat, M.K. looks far more Justin Beiberish than anyone should, including Justin Beiber. On stage, she is wearing a gray linen blazer and a tweedy knit cap. She starts out sitting on a stool and then stands up. M.K.'s pants are falling off. Pull up your pants, M.K. I have been waiting to hear more of her voice, and though her nerves are plainly showing, this is a really nice, subtle and subdued performance. M.K.'s mamas are very proud.
Keith- has to talk over the cheering crowd (the biggest audience reaction of the evening so far) to compliment the perfect song choice.
HCJ- M.K. is elegant and artistic and belongs in the Top 10.
JLo- praises the simplicity of the performance.
Remember last week when we didn't know whether Neko Starr or Ben Briley would make it to the Guys' Top 15? Ben, in a vest, tie, jeans and a ball cap, and Neko in the kind of stupid hat that only Bruno Mars can wear without looking ridiculous, stand on stage to hear that Ben made it. Neko seems to take the news well.
#10. So, we have 6 girls left, and only 1 spot. I like a couple of the remaining girls, and would trade them for Emily and Kristin. JLo callas Malaya Watson, Tuba Girl. Randy asks Malaya what kind of artist she wants to be. Malaya says a combo of Ray Charles and Beyoncé (Rayonce, she says, laughing). On stage, Malaya is wearing a leather biker jacket over jeans, and the biggest hoop earrings I've ever seen. Those things are the size of saucers. She is very very nervous, but she also has a great voice, which is suited to this bluesy song. Malaya is kind of hyper, and just a little odd, and I suspect she would be exhausting in person. But she can sing, and she's totally adorable.
JLo- (side note: I just noticed that JLo brought The Cleavage out to play tonight) loves Malaya. Loves, loves, loves her.
Keith- enjoys Malaya's confidence but thinks the performance was just a tinch over the top.
HCJ- says he will enjoy watching Malaya settle into herself.
So, those are The Judges' Top 10 Gal Picks. Voters will choose 5 to move on.
Tomorrow night, we do it again with The Guys. The results will be on Thursday, and each judge gets to choose a wild card kid. All I can say is someone better bring back Savion Wright.
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