Last night was almost enough to make me stop watching the stupid show.
They each sang three songs.
Kim went first. Her first song was "Band of Gold." Again. She was good. Her second song was terribly unfortunate because it relied on her sense of rhythm. Not good. Judges loved it. Third song was fine.
Ruben was fine. Sang "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" -- a perennial favorite. Good. Then, "Smile" -- not so good -- I think the arrangement was bad. I cannot remember what he sang third but it was Rubenesque.
Clay was shaky. First song "Vincent" -- not a good song, not a good performance. He clearly forgot the lyrics for a bar or two, but handled it gracefully. Second song, Mack the Knife -- selected by Paula because it was less lounge-y and could show his range. She's such a moron. It was high school show chorus impersonation of lounge-y. Bill Murray's old lounge singer gag would have been less lounge-y. Third song, "Unchained Melody" was okay, not strong.
Edited to add: I did not vote last night. (I was watching the replay of the Giro.) I should have voted for Ruben. I wonder if he is going to make it to the final. Clay is definitely through and Kim kept remarking about being the only girl left, so she might make it through as well.
I say bottom two: Kim and Ruben. Kim goes home.
Here's a better review with songtitles from TwoP:
"Random" My Ass
By Shack
The remaining three contestants sing three songs this evening, one selected by the contestants, one selected by the judges, and one selected at "random." I believe the English language has contacted its lawyer to consider a defamation of character suit against the show for the use of the word "random." That's because Kimberley "randomly" selects "Band Of Gold" for her first song. Well, given the way she's been treated by the show so far, she's probably happy that she finally got a handicap in her favor. Ruben "randomly" selects "Signed, Sealed, Delivered," which is a meta-comment about the contract with 19 Management he's probably already secured. Clay "randomly" selects "Vincent," a boring, too-slow song that he butchers, and thus a million new conspiracy theorists are born.
In the second round, Randy chooses "Anyone Who Had A Heart" for Kim. She sings her way through it in great, heaving gasps, but hits the notes pretty well and doesn't get overwrought. Simon gives Ruben "Smile" to sing, because he's always smiling. That's the actual reason he gives him the song. Of course, the word "smile" is the only happy word in the whole song, but nobody cares about that. And the funniest part is that Ruben actually smiles less than he normally does when he sings. Paula selects "Mack The Knife" for Clay, because she thinks it will wipe the image of Clay as a lounge singer out of our heads. Do you think I make this shit up? This is Paula, folks. Comics across the country are hoping she somehow gets elected president. Clay, of course, sings it like a lounge singer.
In the final round, Kimberley chooses "Inseparable," and pulls out all the glory notes she had avoided in her last two numbers. She makes it work, and even manages to suck all the snark out of Simon. Temporarily, of course. Ruben chooses "If Ever You're In My Arms Again," which should be right up his alley, but he just sounds off-pitch and hoarse the whole song. And he looks like he's about to keel over. Not that any of the judges would ever, ever notice. Clay closes the show by picking the most obvious high-school-talent-show choice possible with "Unchained Melody." It doesn't help that the twinkly arrangement for the song was apparently intended as background music for an episode of The Care Bears. But his oversinging is a big hit, of course.
Full text:
http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com...=89&story=5152
