Hound dogs

Watching Tuesday live, for once. No more Paris, so now gotta root for--anyone but Katharine. Doing Elvis, who Ryan calls the original American Idol. Idiots.

Took them to Graceland on a private jet, mobbed on the way in. Priscilla Presley greets them, Tommy Motola will be the guest mentor. Tommy gushes about the show, PP says if Elvis were alive this would be one of his favorite shows... it's getting a little silly.

Taylor first, doing Jailhouse Rock. TM ups the key, he's an odd one. Taylor starts out in the crowd, in a crazy burgundy suit. Such an odd crouching style. But totally in his element, it's gonna be his night. Right in the history of white guys who can't dance but have no problem just letting it rip. I mean, the song's kindof hard to bust out with, but it's an energetic, fun performance. Randy likes it; Paula gushes. Simon says in the real world, that was a terrible impersonation; we're gonna get real, dancing was hideous, karaoke with a capital K.

Chris next, in hipster jacket and jeans. Doing Suspicious Minds, a good pick for him. TM tells him to dig in and really get into it, don't just let it go; he says his vocal sound is incredible. Hmm, he's got shades on; and this song really shows off his tone, he's swaying back and forth, looks totally in control. Looks and sounds like a real rock star, like someone you'd actually pay money to see, even outside the AI tour. It's really quite enjoyable. Randy says nice and tender, didn't like the vocals that much. Paula says see you in the finals. Simon curtly says aside from the shades, that worked.

Elliott doing I Can Dream. Oh-oh... not sure about this, says he wants to show more of his tender side--so why not do Love Me Tender? Kindof weird that he's still here. TM says you need a lot of practice still learning the lyrics, don't want it to sound like a bar mitzvah song--nothing positive, really. In suit. Flashes of his nice tone, but I think this was a bad choice of song. Takes off in the second half, he sings well but it's just not that compelling for me. Randy says he wasn't sure at first, but you laid it out, it was hot. Paula says it may be the best vocal performance you've done this year. Simon says that was the best performance so far.

Katharine next, doing Hound Dog mixed in with All Shook Up. From rehearsals you can see she's gonna be cheesy. TM is impressed with her. In jeans and odd shapeless gray top. Messing around with Randy, before going up on stage. Seh's really going after it, really just hate her facial expressions, and body language. Also out of breath, drops some notes. Good energy per usual. Randy says you had a good time, but what happened in the middle--she dropped a lyric; Paula says at least you worked it out. Simon says it looked like a desperate, manic theater audition. Shrieky, and hope you do better on your second song. She takes Ryan's out, says she was worried about Elvis week.

Taylor talks about how much fun they had at Graceland. Doing In the Ghetto, TM tells him not to go crazy during it, liked his personal rendition. Still hyper at the start, totally wrong for the song. Nice tone, though; the lyrics to this song are so dated, gets in the way. Ugh, he's flat, also turns it into some weird song, rocking out then sudden spoken-word thing. Weird. Randy is like right key, right song, that was hot. Paula says it shows a different side. Simon says first performance was silly, this was perfect song for you--sung into the semis.

Chris does A Little Less Conversation, whoo-hoo. Bring out JPL; TM says it's a hard piece, up-tempo, jivey, says he's impressive (said same about Taylor, Katharine....) Good voice for this song, it's a little growly, like animated monotone. Stalks into audience, just takes over. Good timing, dramatic pauses, ends with a totally rocking-out part, he's a very good performer. Randy likes it, Paula of course gushes, Simon liked his first song better, until end it was kindof flat, just okay.

Elliott doing Trouble, TM says it's all about attitude. He's gone after tonight, so enjoy it while he can. He's trying to be all hoodlum-like, but it's like some kid playing in West Side Story. Good hip swivel, though; the thing about Elliott is he always gives it his all. Song's not very good, though. Crowd seems to like it, though. Randy says that was your best performance, ever. Paula seconds it. Simon says yeah, you've come out fighting, you deserve to go through to the next round. They're just trying to gin the results, ain't gonna happen (unless K drops). There's some sort of trouble between Ryan and Simon; eh, without Paris, this whole thing has lost some of its appeal for me.

Katharine does Can't Help Falling in Love, a great choice for her. She's really quite canny. TM tells her to make sure she pays attention to what she's singing about, which is what my problem has always been with her--she's all show, no true emotion. She starts off nicely, even if she smiles at totally the wrong places, and actually throughout--hey, idiot, this is not a happy song! Gosh, it's actually driving me crazy--her voice is good, but since it's not radio, her stupid smile totally detracts. And she doesn't hit it out of the park--it's good vocally, but I just can't like it, somehow it's less than it should have been. Maybe because it's a song that needs to build, to rise; and she oversings. Randy says better than first time around, but some problems. Paula says she liked watching her dance and have fun, for a change. Simon is like this hasn't been one of your best nights, it started great, but it was so over the top, just too much. Simon says you didn't pick the right songs tonight on what was a big challenge. She's glum at the end.

Yeah, the magic of this show is gone. Amazing what no Paris can do. She was the only non-pro, the only one who was still out there having a great time without calculation.

Oh well. Go Chris.

Chris I, 2
Chris II, 6
Taylor I, 1
Elliott II, 7
Elliott I, 3
Katharine I, 4
Taylor II, 5
Katherine II, 8