I thought Thanksgiving was supposed to be a cheerful time but the images shown at the start were of really scared or sad people! What on earth was the logic behind that? As the show went on it seemed that only Brit Simon managed to stay in control of his emotions as we faced a tearful panel and some tedious back stories with only a couple of acts bringing any light relief.
Two to go tonight. So maybe that's why Leroy, Lakoda Rayne, Astro and Chris were looking worried.
All that happens before the first ad break is Steve offering to hang out with Simon for Thanksgiving. Not a good line, Steve. Stick to the autocue.
At last, the contestants get going. I can see all this 'giving thanks' business getting unbearable. This is something American TV is not good at. Far too syrupy and very old-fashioned.
Rachel
The flaming back history takes longer than the track! Eventually... she starts really well, despite wearing a carpet. Then she goes right out of tune on several bits of I Believe where the song goes out of the range she seems most comfortable in. The good bits did just outweigh the bad bits, to be fair, but, by this stage she needs to show that she can be better than this if she's going to make the big time and not just disappear from view after Christmas. My guess is that her bouncy, confident personality will go down well with voters, though, so she ought to be OK.
♫5½ ☼7½
Marcus
Another long back story. Another bad neighbourhood. C'mon. Let's get on with it. Or maybe not. This smoochy, uninspiring version of something that must be called Mama was awful and perhaps listening to his mum was preferable. The guy has talent but shouldn't do this kind of stuff. The runaway high notes just ran away clear out of the building and silly cut-aways of his mum waving at herself weren't good. The judges, especially Paula, seem to be hearing something totally different to what's coming through my speakers. LA Reid talking about him being one of the great singers is pure nonsense. Interestingly, Simon started a sentence "There were a few little..." only for the camera to switch to LA Reid and we never get to hear the rest. It was probably "... places where you missed notes and looked odd" but we'll never know. From the point of view of star quality, the ability to sell albums and fill places, I have to say that Marcus falls behind Rachel on that performance.
♫5 ☼7
Melanie
Oh heavens. Melanie is thanking God and does the church thing big time. No harm in that but it's all a bit much. I was expecting Simon to sneak in Hallelujah which I think would have worked really well. Instead he gave her I Am That Mountain which she did brilliantly. She is so good that I even liked it myself and it's not my normal type of music at all. Unfortunately we then get some ridiculous emotional outburst from Melanie about where she's come from and how this is the best moment of her life which spoiled things. As Simon said, though, (once Nicole had given her a hug, Steve having given up hope of restoring order), she was outstanding and certainly deserves to stay. She's a potential winner - the safe and older generation type of winner from what we've seen so far - but she could break out of the mould and be genuinely amazing if she dares. Now that would be nice.
♫10 ☼8
Chris
You do wonder sometimes if there are any people in the States who haven't been in rehab, or had parents in rehab, or nearly died, or lost their family. A rap version of Let It Be. Hmm. A lot of people don't realise that there is a huge difference between singing along to a Beatles track and actually hitting the right notes on your own. Lennon & McCartney were complex writers and Chris missed a lot of what they put on the sheet music. However, most of this was all good sing-a-long. But that's all. Chris needs to go home before he gets his hopes up too much. He's done better than most would have predicted to get this far. That performance was not the kind of thing that'll last in our memories long.
The judges seem to be on another planet with goofy gushing praise for everyone. Tonight's show is getting really tiresome.
♫7½ ☼6
Lakoda Rayne
At last some people who seems to come from a vaguely normal background and no soppy stories, just a Gran or two. These girls do look good and, once they get going, sound good too but there may have been too many wrong bits in You Belong With Me at the start for many voters' tastes. They're current and a breath of fresh air after all the gloom and God and mama. LA Reid was remarkably kind but Paula's way-over-the-top emotions seemed well out of place. Maybe she knows that they're next to go. I hope not but I guess they are vulnerable, being still somewhat short of that special star quality needed. Give them a few more weeks and a really good song and things might change. But will they get that chance with two acts going tomorrow?
♫7 ☼7
Leroy
With just his late mum to thank this was a bit easier to watch and he was sure treading on Josh's territory with In The Arms Of An Angel which he sang well and he I reckon he did himself a whole bundle of favours with this performance. LA Reid didn't think much of it but the others gushed and sobbed a lot. This is getting really boring. At the end of the day, Leroy is not a winner but he doesn't, on tonight's tracks, deserve to go just yet. This was way better than Chris and Marcus.
♫9½ ☼6½
Astro
Well, his back story was just last week's nonsense. Quite a relief, really. Show Me What You Got may or may not be the title of yet another track he's written during the week. How he manages that I don't know and all due respect to him for that. However, I think we've had enough now and this was a bit boring, tuneless and not really going anywhere. No real structure, just a bit of a rant. Quite where he goes in this competition I don't know. Last week may have been a big hint that the voters aren't hip hop fans (with Chris getting the all important girlie votes that Astro can't hope to match). So his days may be numbered now on the competition - but certainly not as a future big selling artist.
♫5 ☼7½
Drew
Her three minute intro was all about some other 14 year old friend as, clearly, the family's all good. Skyscraper is a fabulous song and she delivered that so well. We saw some real strong verses there and you could just tell that she knew and felt this song from beginning to end and really did get into it. LA Reid was way out of line with his criticism of the song choice and it was most pleasing to see not only Simon getting genuinely angry but also Drew coming out with an excellent and controlled response that sounded intelligent and put her streets ahead of many of the others in term so of how to behave on stage. (Melanie take note. Drew has you beat in that respect.) Drew is a definite contender and had better be there next week or the show makes no sense.
♫9 ☼9
Josh
So, how many references to buritos will we get tonight? None. That's a change. He ends the show with a magnificent Wild Horses. I'm not sure that Jagger & Richards would not have preferred a bit more interpretation of the song as a whole, which they, and to a lesser extent Susan Boyle provided. However, this was a classy performance and Josh is someone I want to see in the final. He may find some of his support drifting to Leroy this week but, with a bit of good luck, they'll both still trounce some of the lesser contestants.
♫9 ☼7
As the night ends, once again we're left thanking our lucky stars for Drew and Lakoda Rayne saving the evening from dire mush and for Melanie and Josh for their sheer talent. I really do hope that this format and theme is binned for future years.
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