Wild Card Night, and the pattern of the semi-finals holds: The men are a lot better overall than the women, and most of the singers don't rise to the occasion.
Jesse, "Tell Me Something Good" -- well, that was unattractive. Mushmouthed enunciation, harsh and grating vocals, and a bad drag queen's notion of sultry -- there really isn't much good to be said.
Matt, "Who's Loving You" -- a vast improvement over his semi-final performance; the bluesy thing really does work for him. I still find his voice a bit on the thin and whiny side, but that might just be me.
Megan, "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" -- pitched too low, and the bottom notes disappear entirely; the high note at the end is badly off pitch. Also not a good sign that I spent the entire performance thinking how much better Katharine McPhee did it during her season on the show.
Von, "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" -- when he can cut loose and belt, he sounds terrific, but the quieter moments at the beginning are all air, with no power behind them at all. He also seems somewhat stiff and over-rehearsed. Still, an improvement over his first performance.
Jasmine, "Reflection" -- lord, listen to how hard that girl is working. Everything is pushed so hard that it becomes oppressive; the quiet moments at the end, on the other hand, are very pretty. Overall, it's better than the other women so far, and it might be enough to get her through.
Ricky, "Superstition" -- he has a bad habit of letting notes die out without giving them their final consonants ("very superstitiou..."), but that's the biggest flaw. Good, solid performance, which isn't a surprise, given that he probably should have gotten through the first time around anyway.
Tatiana, "Saving All My Love for You" -- goodness, we just might have to put the Queen of Drama into the finals. A few pitch problems here and there, but she's got nice power, better low notes than the other women, and the performance is relatively restrained and tasteful.
Anoop, "My Prerogative" -- Fabulous. Well-sung, lots of fun, and he knows how to work a stage. Best of the night by a long shot.
(Hitting pause on the DVR to make my picks before the judges make theirs)
Deserving of the three spots: Anoop, Ricky, and Jasmine; but I think it's unlikely that the judges will pick more than one guy, given the already existing gender imbalance, so put Tatiana in for Ricky.
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