February 21, 2005
Guys Night Out 2-21
By Michele
Yep, I'll be live blogging the show tonight. Stay tuned.
Here's a list of the guys in the running:
| CONTESTANT | AGE | HOME TOWN |
| Anthony Fedorov | 19 | New York, NY |
| Anwar Robinson | 25 | Newark, NJ |
| Bo Bice | 29 | Atlanta, GA |
| Constantine Maroulis | 29 | New York, NY |
| David Brown | 20 | Louisiana |
| Jared Yates | 18 | Danville, IL |
| Joseph Murena | 26 | Smithtown, Long Island |
| Judd Harris | 27 | New Orleans, LA |
| Mario Vazquez | 27 | Bronx, NY |
| Nikko Smith | 22 | St. Louis, MO |
| Scott Savol | 28 | Cleveland, OH |
| Travis Tucker | 21 | Manassas, VA |
Two of these guys will be eliminated tonight. Though we won't find out who until Wednesday.
First up, Nikko Smith doing Part Time Lover. He doesn't thrill me and I don't think he'll make it more than two weeks. Randy and I NEVER agree. I'm usually in Simon's corner.
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Scott Savol is up now. I really love his voice. Unfortunately for Scott, a fat guy already won once. Not gonna happen again.
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Did anyone just see that? Wilma Flinstone and the Scooby Doo chick selling shampoo? Acting all sexy? Or was I having another flashback?
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Anthony Fedorov up now. I think his problem is that he has the Clay factor. Too many people are comparing him to Clay and I think that hurts him. He has a really good voice and I can totally see him in the finals. And he'll get the same scrutiny as Clay in regards to his sexuality.
He did not wow me tonight, however. He needed something with more power. I agree with Dave and Ian in the comments. Richard Marx = BAD CHOICE.
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Bo Bice. I do not like him. No rhyme or reason, I just don't. Let's see if he does anything to change that now.
Well, it doesn't help that Bo is doing a song that has bad memories for me. Plus the fact that it was just...blah. And the girls go wild.
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Travis Tucker doing - oh, joy - more Stevie Wonder.
(Note to Ian in the comments - I know Bo did ok, I just don't want to like him because I'm devoted to Constantine!)
That was pretty bland.
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Who helps these people with their song choices? Doesn't anyone have any balls?
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My boy is up. Oh, he's gonna make the girls swoon. He's the one who will get the 13 year old giddy girl vote this year.
Interesting choice of songs. Another "safe" choice. I know, I know, he's not all that, talent wise. But I still like him. And I still think he's really the lead singer of Taking Back Sunday.
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David Brown up. I have no feelings for him either way. His moves are alternately stiff and then too affected. Run of the mill stuff.
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Dave, in the comments:
I'd like for some contestant to make a really bold choice and do the Flaming Lips' version of "Can't Get You Out of My Head". Or, really, any song that conveys both emotion and musical knowledge.
I would love for someone to go really offbeat in their music choice - do something out there, something with depth. Something unusual or hard to sing. Show some guts!
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Jared Yates up. Reminds me of a lounge singer. In a dark, dank bar. Off some forsaken exit on the New Jersey Turnpike.
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Anwar Robinson is up. He is, by far, my favorite of all the Idol contestants.
Moon River - very interesting choice.
Oh, yea. He's got it. He has SO got it going on.
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Judd Harris up. Now this is the kind of song I thought Constantine or Bo would do. It is not working for Judd. And once again, Randy and Paula the CrackHo don't agree with me. And Simon hit the nail on the head - the girls will vote for Judd just based on his hip shaking schtick.
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Joseph Murena is up. I want to like him because a) he's a Long Islander like myself and b) we both work for the same people.
He sounds like he has a cold. Potential, but I think I'm going to have to change my final picks and take him out of there. I just don't think he has the extra oomph he needs to push him to the finals.
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Mario is the last one up, and my second favorite behind Anwar. I think if there were Vegas odds on this (which there probably are), Mario would be the best bet.
Ok, he's got the voice, he's got the moves, he's got the look, he's got the stage presence. A star is born. Great choice of songs for him.
And that's tonight's show - get voting.
Feodorov singing Richard Marx? Just... ugh. No. I hope that doesn't get him kicked off.
Posted by: David Tepper at February 21, 2005 08:16 PM
I'm a big Anthony fan, but I'd cut him just for Richard Marx. I thought Scott did better.
Posted by: Ian S. at February 21, 2005 08:17 PM
I hate to argue with Michele, but I thought Bo did fantastic. I'm 100% with Simon.
Posted by: Ian S. at February 21, 2005 08:19 PM
Arg, well, Michele, at least I can "watch" it here ... hubby is watching "The Natural" for -like - the fifty millionth time. ARg. This probably means I'm gonna miss 24 too ... drat.
Posted by: Carin at February 21, 2005 08:22 PM
I like Constantine, and that was a pretty gutsy song choice, but not his best performance.
Posted by: Ian S. at February 21, 2005 08:30 PM
So ... what did Constantine sing?? Did he hit all the notes (I've been nervous for him before.)
Posted by: Carin at February 21, 2005 08:33 PM
I'd like for some contestant to make a really bold choice and do the Flaming Lips' version of "Can't Get You Out of My Head". Or, really, any song that conveys both emotion and musical knowledge.
Posted by: Dave at February 21, 2005 08:33 PM
Carin: Seal's "Kiss From A Rose", which I thought was fairly 'different' for him. He hit all the notes except the "ba-BY!" at the start of the chorus, but he was a lot better in previous weeks I thought.
Posted by: Ian S. at February 21, 2005 08:35 PM
Thanks Ian (which is my son's name, btw). Humn - so he's not doing something a tad more hardcore? What's the point of having your shtick be "rocker" and then not rocking? I guess he's gotta show "range" or something. humbug.
Posted by: Carin at February 21, 2005 08:38 PM
Yeah - I liked Bo tonight because he actually did a rock song and he was really into it. I was hoping to see the same from Constantine, but no dice.
Posted by: Ian S. at February 21, 2005 08:41 PM
Wow. WOW. WOW! I have a new favorite. Go Anwar!
Posted by: Ian S. at February 21, 2005 08:45 PM
Anwar has a lot of talent. Not exactly my style of music (so far, from what he did) ... but great voice.
Posted by: Carin at February 21, 2005 08:45 PM
You know, this isn't helping me ... I'm getting even more pissed that I'm missing it. DRAT.
Posted by: Carin at February 21, 2005 08:47 PM
Mmmph. Judd stole Constantine's song. And raped it. Ok, ok, I'm being a little harsh, but I didn't like it.
Posted by: Ian S. at February 21, 2005 08:48 PM
Mario's not the best voice, but he may be the best entertainer. He just looks like he's having a blast, and I give points for that.
Posted by: Ian S. at February 21, 2005 08:55 PM
Could someone please tell me the song that Mario sang tonite.
Posted by: Chavo G. at February 21, 2005 09:33 PM
I really liked Bo. He made a good song choice and seemed comfortable on the stage, not trying too hard. (shrug) He was good. I voted for him a couple of times.
Anwar knocked my socks off - wow! - he can really sing!
Posted by: Jeannine at February 21, 2005 09:51 PM
I thought that Bo was really good; Constantine blew in, in my opinion (all that intense staring at the camera is just soooo 1980's hair band). As for Anwar, I'll admit I'm biased, being a transplanted Jersey Girl, but he blew me away. I was wondering about his song choice at first (I love the old time crooner songs, but for AI?), but he really made it contemporary.
I like Mario as well, but his face reminds me of Justin Guarini, and I just can't shake that. Anwar's my pick to go all the way.
Posted by: Kathleen at February 21, 2005 10:14 PM
Ummm, make that "Constantine blew *it*." That's what I get for failing to preview. :-)
Posted by: Kathleen at February 21, 2005 10:15 PM
Anwar knocked my socks off tonight. "Moon River" has always been a favorite of mine so I'd probably like just about any version of it, but I totally agreed with Paula when she said she'd buy the single version Anwar performed. I'm hoping he goes far so there WILL be one.
Posted by: robyn at February 21, 2005 11:28 PM
My top choices were Bo and Mario. I love Anthony, but he just didn't do it for me. Really bad choice of songs for all of them.
I love Simon. Without him, it would just be a whack-off festival. All these guys have talent, but very few of them used it tonight. And half of them were off key! My poor, poor, musically-trained ears...
Posted by: kat at February 22, 2005 11:05 AM
Could someone please tell me what song and also what artist made it popular that Jared Yates sang?
Posted by: kathiemccomb at February 27, 2005 02:11 PM
Anwar is a breathe of fresh air, with the hair to match.
Posted by: mejeke at March 1, 2005 03:21 PM