Dish Of Salt: Thursday TV Dish (February 25, 2010)

I was so intrigued to find out how the boys would fare, I stuck around the Access Hollywood offices to watch the East Coast feed. To add more pressure to the already intense pressure the guys were feeling, Simon made it that much worse by offering them this advice, “If you lose it tonight or forget the words, your career is over.” Ouch! Overall, this was a much better showing than the ladies. At this point, I’m wondering if it’s time to change up the 6 girls, 6 guys format for the Top 12. How about a Top 12 with the 12 best singers regardless of gender? Here’s my take on last night’s show:

From the first few notes of Todrick Hall’s R &B remix of Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone,” I get the sense that the boys are going to try and ‘bring it’ by changing up the song arrangements. It might not have sounded vocally fantastic, but at least Todrick did something different. However, Randy Jackson rips him to shreds with this comment, ” You never want to take a song and completely obliterate it so you don’t even know what the song it is.” Additionally, Simon told him he “murdered it.” I totally disagree. One of the worst problems on “American Idol” is that being forced to sing popular songs has always made this a karaoke contest. Now when the contestants are finally heeding the judges’ advice to “make it their own,” they get blasted for it. Can you say ‘talking out of both sides of your %$@!’ judges?

I love Rascal Flatts, love that song “Here Comes Goodbye” and I think Aaron Kelly is adorable. Regardless of his performance tonight vocally, a 16-year-old wanting to be a pop/country singer, in a year where Taylor Swift has ruled the airwaves and the award shows, is smart. The young girls will love him and if he tones down the nerves and keeps down this path, I think we could be looking at a major contender for the Season 9 title here.

Jermaine Sellers brings the show to a screeching halt. Boring song. Boring performance. Bye Bye Jermaine. If the judges didn’t seal that fate for you than your complaining about Hollywood Week as “Hell Week” and the clueless comment pondering “Who is Michael?” sure did.

Who do you think was the worst guy? Vote HERE

Simon nailed Tim Urban by saying of his performance of One Republic’s song “Apologize,” “We absolutely made the right decision the first time round by not putting you through based on that performance.” Harsh! However, I’m kind of thinking that his haircut tonight makes him look like he stepped right out of a Disney Channel movie. I bet the young girls are gonna take a liking to this kid in spite of the performance and his lack of airtime up until now. Just to prove my point, here a few tweets from people on Twitter about him. @chandlesnash said,“Okay, I’m in love with Tim Urban. I don’t care if he wasn’t that good. He’s so prettyyyyyyy.” @Kaitlyn262 said, “Tim Urban=hot …… Enough said!”

Joe Munoz = Snooze. He looks a like a cross between Anoop Desai, David Archuleta and the nephew on “Ugly Betty” Mark Indelicato.

Maybe it’s because I was born in the 1970s, but I dig this Tyler Grady kid. Again the judges are contradicting themselves. They tell contestants to be themselves – but then when Tyler performs the way he wants to be, they say he’s mimicking Jim Morrison. Maybe he likes the whole ‘70s era and that’s his thing, weird purple shirt and all. I like his vibe. I get him.

Lee Dewyze. He sort of came out of nowhere, right? Simon and I agree tonight finally on somebody. He was good… well except for that distracting “Weapon Of Choice” t-shirt.

Who do you think was the best guy? Vote HERE

John Park = Snooze # 2. John have you met a little Top 24 contestant by the name of Paul Kim from Season 6? You’ll be joining him in unmemorableville.

Are Aaron Kelly and Michael Lynche wearing the same shirt? Michael’s got a good back story. He’s a decent singer. He’s got a great personality. I think we will be seeing a lot of Michael. Besides, Big Mike could kick Simon’s butt if he says something mean.

OK, so he’s not so comfortable on the stage, but I like Alex Lambert (especially that last name!). The Twitter world is buzzing about his “mullet” hairdo. That’s all people are Tweeting about. Poor kid.

Kara DioGuardi (my “Idol” twin) and I actually agree on something for once. Casey James is sexy. Commence voting for him. He needs to stick around for awhile.

Andrew Garcia gets the pimp spot. He’s the guy the show has certainly been pushing for us to like. This is fortunate for him because the performance was not great. The buckets of airtime he has had will help him sail through to next week and the Top 12.

Early prediction to make the Top 12: Aaron Kelly, Tyler Grady, Andrew Garcia, Lee Dewyze, Michael Lynche, Casey James

Going home tonight: Jermaine Sellers, Joe Munoz

Now that you have seen all 24 contestants perform, will a girl or guy win this season? Vote HERE