AI S4, Top12, 3/14/05

Very good night.  Hearing them sing like this, there are really quite a few singers here 
I wouldn't mind seeing win this whole thing.  Really only one truly weak performance on 
the night, and quite a few high points (and notes).
Overall (Tonight)

1 (4). Anwar Robinson: I normally find this song really boring, and at least towards the 
end Anwar managed to draw me into it.  He's just got a perfect voice.  There's nothing 
wrong with it.  On top of that, he takes all these boringly standard songs and makes them 
his own original creations.  Unfortunately, he seems to be doing the same thing with 
every one of them... like Simon said, he really needs to break from his (admittedly 
excellent) mold and do something a bit different.  Anyway, it was again a wonderful 
performance, and I look forward to him singing for many weeks to come.

2 (3). Nikko Smith: SOOOO glad my boy Nikko's back, though I wish we could've dumped 
someone else to get him.  This was another excellent performance, and yet again he scales 
the pitch problems back another notch.  Every aspect of his performances are excellent, 
looking good, sounding good, moving good... just good stuff.  Right now he's definitely my 
favorite here, and I have no clue what Simon was listening to.

3 (1). Bo Bice: Bo's great.  This is an excellent song, and he performed it beautifully.  
He's just so polished, there's literally nothing negative to say about his performances.  
He's got a wonderful voice, and his rock attitude is perfect.  More great stuff from the 
man who's yet to fail to deliver.

4 (2). Nadia Turner: This was something I'd been missing from Nadia, a simple, ballad style 
female vocal.  Most of her performances had impressed more by style than by singing, and 
here she really brought her vocal chops and laid them out bare... well, they pass.  She sang 
it wonderfully, and injected it with her soul and passion at the same time.  Excellent job.

5 (6). Vonzell Solomon: She's been easily the most consistent female in the competition to 
me.  She's got an excellent range, and isn't afraid to put herself into her singing.  This 
was yet another very well done performance, even if the vocal was a bit safe.  Some 
excellent notes at the end, very powerful.

6 (8). Scott Savol: Scott really didn't have to stretch himself on this song, probably the 
biggest problem he had.  He sounded good, and it's an enjoyable song, but I'd like to see 
him take a bit more of a risk with his singing.  Good stuff though.

7 (7). Carrie Underwood: About a month after she's eliminated (or wins) from this competition, 
it's easy to see that Carrie will be sitting at the top of the country charts.  She looks 
great, sounds great, and has an excellent 'country' personality.  Not sure what Randy and 
Paula were listening to, but other than the fact that the song was a bit easy for her, this 
was an excellent performance.  I can't stand the country, but she sounds great doing it.

8 (9). Anthony Federov: The lead-in yet again cemented the fact that I don't like this guy, 
but whatever.  The singing was alright.  He managed to make it through without any major low 
points... or high points.  Just a pretty bland rendition.  Not impressed.

9 (5). Constantine Maroulis: This was an excellent performance from Constantine.  He seemed 
to drop all the goofy rock posturing that's been holding him back of late and just sang the 
song.  As always, he's an excellent performer, and he finally managed to back that up vocally.  
A nice, cool, laid-back tone, and a very smooth vibrato that he allowed to breath on this 
simple song.  Best of all, he hit the notes.  All of them.  Good stuff, though he finished it 
off with that goofy tail at the end of his final note.

10 (10). Well, Jessica's sold herself as a bluesy, funky singer, and she does it fairly well 
here.  Nothing THAT impressive, nothing THAT exciting, just a decent showing.  At this point 
all you have to do is avoid big mistakes and she certainly did that.  Alright.

11 (11). Mikalah Gordon: This was actually a decent performance for Mikalah.  She wasn't missing 
notes, worked the stage well, and looked alright.  The main problem is..... I just don't like 
her voice.  It isn't a technical problem (though the song started a bit low for her), it's 
simply the way she sounds.  Meh.

12 (12). Lindsey Cardinale: Yet again Lindsey sings an up-tempo song... and yet again she kills
it.  Singing notes so low I'm not sure the guys in the competition could hit them, she just sucks 
any and all life from the song.  The only time I even remotely like the tone of her voice is 
when she has to stretch to hit some high note.  Nasty stuff, she just can't get away with this 
type of song... say goodbye?