Tue Feb 17/09 – 1st group of 12

Welcome to the new season of AI, huh. A new judge. Some new rules. Mom and Dad in the green room when you're done. WAY too much unfocussed talking by the judges after the live performances. Otherwise I think the shows have been tighter, over all.

Here's my assessment. Bear in mind that, altho I've watched all the programs up til now, this is the first time I've really taken a close look at the contestants. Hope I got the names right. As a voice teacher I'm listening for vocal strengths & weaknesses - but I cannot eliminate performance from my observations.

3/10 – Jackie Tohn
Clips of Jackie screaming before and after her auditions made me cringe. Not a healthy thing for a singer to be doing at any time. I felt the whole performance was overdone – skin tight pants, played the clown is right. However, it was entertainment – cabaret style. American Idol style? I don’t think so. On the good side, there’s nothing wrong with the voice itself, and she was a good choice for a show opener.

8/10 – Ricky Brady
I felt this was a well presented performance. The voice has “bloom”, solid tone, good range.

7/10 – Alexis Grace
I wasn’t sure about this song choice. The voice was solid and the performance was good.

6.5/10 – Brent Keith
Song had a nice groove, I agreed with Kara that the song didn’t show off all his abilities. He has good tone & I’d like to hear him do something more edgy.

2/10 – Stevie Wright
Unfortunately Stevie was very nervous – and it’s hard to judge a performance like that. When we are nervous, our breath doesn’t work properly – that’s why we sound flat. She needs to work on centering herself, and choosing songs that have flowing phrases that give her time to breath and settle in. Don’t know if she’ll get the chance this season, though.

4/10 – Anoop Desai
Very nice voice, lovely texture, solid tone. I wasn’t sure the song really showed him off, and it could be that some butterflies caused the occasional pitch issue.

2.5/10 – Casey Carlson
I felt the song was in a key that was too low for her. It didn’t sit in the part of her tessitura that would bring the voice to life. Very safe, rather boring song, and some pitch issues.

6/10 – Michael Sarver
Good song choice, nice vocals, good presence on stage. Not thrilling but solid.

3.5/10 -- Ann Marie B
I thought this was a boring (yes, “irrelevant”) song choice. I didn’t connect with the verse, it felt like she was trying too hard in the chorus to make it work (pick a song that has that IN it, so you don’t have to manufacture it), I felt the performance was over the top and just short of pitchy. However, the voice is a nice one.

5/10 -- Steven Fowler
Nice vocals, but kind of old fashioned disco song, would like to hear something more current.

6.75/10 – Tatiana DT
She’s kooky but she does have pipes and I was surprised to hear a pretty solid performance from her. I thought it was a good song choice, it showed her range. Won me over a little.

9/10 -- Danny Gokey
Good song choice, naturally we’re all moved by what he’s been through, but also I think he really related to the song and brought it out. I thought he was the best of the night.

I think Danny, Ricky and Alexis should be the 3 from this show that move on to the top 12.
Honourable mention: Tatiana