Pop Music Notes

Folks, I think it became quite clear this week that, unless Freemantle believes in some seriously horrible pranks, this is the season that American Idol jumps the shark. I sat through all three audition shows this week (yes, three), and it appears that God has forsaken the American public of any talent whatsoever. This will be one of the most concise recaps yet, simply because there really isn’t much on the show worth recapping.

– Jacksonville – When Yuri is the best thing coming out of your city, you’re in trouble (and I say that with much love and respect to Olga). The featured singers were really bad for the most part: Jasmine Murray seemed nice enough, but even though Chris Rich called it a style of singing, “nasally” just doesn’t work here. TK Hask has a good voice, but he oversang his song big time. The only person that did impress (Anne Marie Boskovich, above) had to get a do-over, so what does THAT tell you?

– Salt Lake City – Okay, a bit better, but still. Frankie Jordan’s got a good voice, but come on, stop copying Amy Winehouse phrase by phrase! David Osmond…okay, talent. Fine. But boring. It was good to see an episode with two stellar voices, and for once they were both female. Taylor Vaifanua (right) did her thing on “Joyful, Joyful”, and Megan Courkey had a really cool take on “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man”. Although I don’t think he’ll make it far, I did like Austin Sisneros on a personal level. There’s just something about him that’s really likable, and he has a great tone to his voice, even if he didn’t have the best audition.

– NYC/San Juan, PR – So craptastic that they squeezed both cities into an hour. You know it’s bad when you look at your notes, and see multiple names that you started to write down, and then crossed off because they didn’t deliver. Did you catch at the end that San Juan only saw 9 golden tickets? Pitiful. Jorge Nunez (left), though, is one to watch out for. I fear he might flame out early (you can guess whether there’s a pun there or not) like AJ Tabaldo. New York didn’t fare much better, and it’s sad when the most memorable one to get a ticket is the one the producers framed as a freak. Having said that, I do like Melinda Camile, but I think she’s going to end up in the same category as Austin.

Here’s my big beef, though. They splice in a clip of Randy saying “one of the best voices we’ve heard today”, but you don’t get to hear the singer. Is that poor placement, a little foreshadowing, or just a sorry indicator of just how bad things were in these two cities? I guess we’ll find out next week.

So there you have it…so little good news to report, but Hollywood Week looks interesting. Now, there is a list of the Top 50 and Top 36 floating around, and whether they are fabrications or the real thing, it looks pretty much spot on.