The Top 13 Becomes a Snoozefest

In a sign of being completely useless for a second night, Steven Tyler started the night by refusing to answer which group (guys or girls) was better during the last round.  Now listen, I understand that Tyler does not want to play the role of Simon, however it isn't like Ryan Seacrest was asking which group he should send to the chambers (yes, I know, I am going to hell for that one).

So how did Idol fill waste two hours?  Well near 1 hour and 30 minutes was wasted with interviews, recaps, and other crap (including J Lo's new video) that no one cares about.  Idol seems to be the reason that the DVR was existed...so you can fast forward through all the needless bullsh-t.

Idol eventually got to revealing the Top 10 of which I agreed with 8 of the 10.  The Top 10 included: Scott McCreery, Pia Toscano, Lauren Alaina, Karen Rodriguez, Jacob Lusk, Casey Abrams, Thia Megia, Paul McDonald, Haley Reinhart, and James Durbin.

As for those booted, most were booted fairly in my mind including: Mao Tse T aung Clint Jun Gamboa, Jordan Dorsey, Jovany Barreto, Ta-tynisa Wilson, Julie Zorrilla, Kendra Chantelle, Tim Halperin, Naima Adedapo, Lauren Turner, Brett Loewenstern , Rachel Zevita, and Stefano Langone

Booted Unfairly were Robbie Rosen and Ashton Jones.

During Double Jeopardy, Ashton proved, as I expected, that she deserved a spot in the Top 10.  While I stick with my selection of Stefano Langone being booted fairly, the kid performed well and has a very pure voice. Kendra lacks "it" and simply doesn't do it for me (and let's be honest, it is all about me).  Jovany Barreto played it smart safe by choosing a Latin artist when he performed Jon Secada's "Angel".  Like Karen Rodriguez a night early, Barreto played to J Lo by leveraging his roots and sang the song in English and Spanish.  Naima can sing, but she is boring and really has no shot at the crown so better to just ax her now.  Robbie chose a slow song that was performed well, but didn't show anything special.

The judges ultimately went with Ashton, Stefano, and Naima which I can understand and respect.  Unfortunately, of those, only one has a decent shot to go far in the competition.

Final Observations:

• What the f-ck was Steven Tyler wearing tonight?   I love to wear pink, but I am not too much into wearing women's blouses.  
• Brett Loewenstern couldn't be more annoying...really, you had to hug the judges before you left?  Sorry Ginger, your 5 minutes are up (he doesn't deserve 15 minutes).
• Can we stop with the dramatics?  These kids are not singing for their lives...life will go on.  Like I said, no one is sending these kids are going to the chambers (just driving home that I am going to hell).
• It is bad enough that we are generally forced to watch crappy in-show commercials for Coca-Cola and Ford, but now we're handcuffed to watch one of the judges promote her own music?  Can you imagine a ref interrupting play to shoot a 3-pointer?  That said, I definitely enjoyed the Kaoma interlude during the song and I am thinking that I may want to eat off of J Lo's sick abs.
• Is it me or does it appear that most of the contestants in the Top 13 don't like each other?  Doesn't seem like there is a lot of love going around.
• Do the Idol judges hate Jews?  All were booted...boo!

As Randy said, America picked a solid Top 10 and the judges selected a respectable three additional contestants.  It should be an interesting season as outside of Haley, Karen, Stefano, and Naima who should go home early, a majority of the top 13 have a legitimate shot at the crown.

Lauren Alaina and Scott McCreery remain my favorites if not simply for the reason that these two have the best shot at true success in the pop/country and country world respectively.  Yes, some might say that I should include Jacob Lusk, however trust me that you will tire of him and his dramatics.  And, while I love Paul McDonald and Casey Abrams, neither will be any more successful than recent Idol winners Lee DeWyze (I bet you didn't even remember he won) and Kris Allen and the ultimate goal of this show is to find someone who is going to sell albums.