Paul Kim - Season 9 Correspondent - Top 11

Hello Idol fans,

This week’s top 11 episode was interesting… It made me rethink my opinion on certain contestants, and turned me off to others.

I’ll start off by saying that I really like Lee’s voice, and his stage presence has improved vastly, but he tends to yell throughout the entire performance, and it gets to be too much.

Paige and Tim just don’t belong in the top 11. It has to be said. They lack the type of talent to go on a nationwide tour.

Someone please explain to me the hype over Crystal. I think it was a decent performance, but the judges seem to be enamored with her.

This Michael Lynche is truly impressing me. Despite what the judges said, I loved his performance. And this is the guy I picked to go home during the first week. I think I may have a new favorite in this competition.

I love Aaron’s voice. There is some incredible potential in there. Imagine how good he’ll sound in 3 years.

I don’t know what to say about Andrew right now. I’m a fan, but I just don’t feel like he’s right for this type of competition. I don’t see him as a pop singer. He should be doing acoustic sets in smoky clubs, creating songs within his own artistic realm. I felt like his rendition of Heard it Through the Grapevine was in a key way too low. I think he may have been afraid of the falsetto parts in that song.

Casey has stayed pretty consistent for me throughout the competition. I hated him during his audition, but this guy has some star quality.

I haven’t liked Didi the last few weeks, but she impressed me with finally showing some power and range this week. I refuse to let the judges sway my opinion on this one. I liked it.
Katie was much better this week, so she should be safe.

Siobhan’s quirkiness has finally started to grow on me. The Sanjayaesque faux-hawk was cool. And of course her voice is always crisp and energetic. The ending was a bit over the top, but she can “sang”.

Tidbits:

Hated Miley Cyrus as a mentor. What were they thinking?

I miss Paula.

Will the show flop once Simon leaves? I think so.

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Paul Kim - Season 9 Correspondent - Top 16

Greetings,

This week was much more entertaining than last week!

Let’s start with the girls:

I’m just going to come out and say Katie and Paige are going home.

Something about the girls this year is putting me to sleep. My favorites of the week were Siobhan and Crystal. Yet Siobhan just seems so awkward to me. She almost has crazy “I will cut you” eyes. And Crystal needs a huge slice of humble pie. She seems shamelessly cocky up there, and despite the fact that she did awesome this week, her attitude and decision to sit on her amp during the judging really turned me off.

With all that being said, we can see the top 6 girls taking shape, and there are still some great voices in this competition, like Didi and Katelyn.

And now the fellas:

I liked the guys performances much more than the girls this week.

Honestly, there wasn’t a single performance that I didn’t like. And that makes it very difficult to predict who may be going home.

Despite what the judges said, I thought Andrew did great. And I wish they would never ever mention “Straight Up” again, for the rest of the year.

Michael shocked me with that performance. Before the episode started, he was one of the contestants that I thought would struggle to garner votes. I wish he would’ve started out with more falsetto during the 1st verse, but he killed it towards the end!

For the 3rd week in a row, I’m going to predict that Tim Urban is going home. Yes, he was much improved this week, but he’s still the weakest vocalist. And my second selection to get voted off is Todrick. He’s actually one of my favorites, but I just don’t see America connecting with what he’s trying to do up there. He’s not your standard R&B singer, and I actually appreciate him for that, but I can see why so many just don’t get it.

Gotta say I was pretty bummed to see my boy John Park get booted last week. I was rooting for him.

I’m excited to see who cracks the top 12! Are you???

PK

Paul Kim - Season 9 Correspondent - Top 20

Hello again folks,

Well I just got through watching all 4 hours of this week’s AI, and all I gotta say is: Zzzzzzzzzzzzz……

I’m looking for positives in terms of all the performances, but overall it was terrible and difficult to watch.

I just don’t understand what is going on with all the song choices. I also feel like not a single contestant has found their voice yet. As a singer, it takes years to finally find your true voice and sound, but I feel as if Idol chose contestants that are not yet comfortable and confident with their sound. The potential is there with many of them. There are some great voices within the talent pool, but I have yet to see someone who truly stands out among the crowd, and exudes “superstar”.

Well let’s go to the guys:

My favorite performance was from the guy I predicted would go home last week. Michael Lynche was impressive, and he was the least pitchy of the lot.

Gotta say that this Alex Lambert guy is growing on me as well. Reminds me of a poor man’s version of my boy Chris Richardson.

Lee is also starting to carve himself a spot in the top 12, with his rough rocker voice.
Disappointed in the guys I like, such as Andrew Garcia, John Park, and Todrick.

Onto the ladies:

I just don’t see any star vocalists here. Where are the Kelly Clarksons? The Fantasias? The Jordins? There just aren’t any females this year that can completely carry a big song, and give me goosebumps.

There are good voices amongst the girls this year, such as Katie, Katelyn, Paige, and Siobhan, but these girls are still a couple years away from finding their voice, and killing it during a performance.

I’m sorry, I wish I had more positive things to say, but I found it hard to stay awake during this week’s episodes... Just overall terrible.

Predictions:

Tim Urban and Jermaine Sellers are gone… Tim is just awful. Jermaine has amazing range and talent, but he may not be right for a pop infused show like American Idol.

Haeley and Didi were my bottom 2 of the week, although with the girls it could go either way.

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Paul Kim - Season 9 Correspondent - Top 24

Hello Idol fans,
So I just sat down and watched both episodes for the 24 girls and boys.

I have to say that I expected more from this group. At the same time, it’s obvious a lot of it was initial nerves, and I choose not to be one of the myriad of commentators ripping the show and this crop of contestants. Keep in mind that during this portion of the show, it hits you as you get to the stage that more than 30 million people are watching you. These are amateurs being tossed into the national spotlight, so let’s cut our top 24 some slack

Ladies first:
I am somewhat in agreement you all about there being only a few good performances from the ladies this week. I chose to fast forward through the judges assessments, so I could give unbiased reviews without being swayed by what the judges say, because we all know the producers have their faves, and the judges are forced to sway votes to ensure certain people advance.

My favorites based on this week’s performances alone were Ashley, Katelyn, Michelle, Didi, and Siobhan.

Ashley has lots of potential. I like her voice. She needs to improve, and I expect her to do so.

Katelyn had a great deal of stage presence, and I look forward to her tackling bigger songs.

Michelle probably shouldn’t have tried to sing an Alicia Keys song, as you are almost assuredly not going to sound as good as Alicia, but I like her based on her potential and marketability. She could go far in this competition.

Didi has a beautiful voice. Her tone is unique and sweet, but I’m not sure I can see her singing songs in other genres without struggling. She’s a bit one dimensional.

Siobhan picked a terrible song, but it was clear she has a nice voice and once she gets over the nerves, she may bounce back nicely.

I wasn’t particularly impressed by anyone else. I just feel many of the performances were forgettable.

Onto the fellas:
Faves of the night were Todrick, Tyler, Lee, Alex, and Casey.

Todrick didn’t do as well as I had hoped, but I like his sound and stage presence.

Tyler surprised me. I had almost written him off, but I enjoyed his performance. He has a cool hippie style to him, and he worked it out.

Lee has a nice raspy rocker tone to his vocals. His ears may not be as good as his voice though, as he was very flat throughout, but I expect good things from him.

Alex is somewhat awkward to me, but I like his singing style. He needs to lose the 2010 version of the mullet though. He’s an intriguing contestant though.

Casey shocked me with that performance. He nearly put me to sleep during his initial audition, but he sounded great last night. Probably the best performance of the night for me.

My man John Park probably chose the wrong song, much the way I did a couple years ago. I’m still rooting for the guy and expect him to be back next week. He just needs to switch up his vocal style and not sound so old and technical.

My favorite contestant Andrew Garcia also chose the wrong song. He’s definitely safe, so I wouldn’t worry about it. He’s almost guaranteed a top 3 spot, based on his talent and the hype the show has surrounded him with.

It’s very hard to tell who is going home because the worst performers rarely go home the first week. My personal bottom 4, which is almost guaranteed not to be the actual results are Tim Urban, Michael Lynche, Haeley Vaughn, and Lacey Brown.

Feel free to give your own feedback and opinions.
PK

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Paul Kim - Season 9 Correspondent - Episode 7

Hello again Idol fans. Here we go for week 3…

The Denver auditions in general were a bit boring. No one was incredible, but there were still some intriguing contestants.

Let’s start with Mark Labriola: He has a fun personality, and a decent voice, although he was extremely pitchy and a bit all over the place during the audition. He did seem to have some nice range, but I don’t see any star power there.

Kimberly Kerlow: A pretty tone to her voice. She possesses a good deal of stage presence as well. There wasn’t a trace of the nerves during her audition. I thought the song choice may have masked her inability to belt in an upper register, but I liked her… What was up with the wig though?

Casey James: Zzzzzzzzz….. That’s all I really need to say.

Tori Kelly: The only thing that impressed me was her riffs and runs. They were very very clean and in tune. Her tone isn’t very unique, but for being only 16, she has tons of potential. One thing I can tell you all is that the judges hate all the runs during performances, so it actually hurts her that her strong suit is all the bells and whistles of singing.

Nicci Nix: Loved her… I can see some being turned off by her uber-perkiness and high-pitched voice, but she’s adorable. I’d like to hear her sing a different song, but the vocals were on point for the song she chose.

Haeley Vaughn: A very solid voice for her age. I actually disagreed with the judges when they said she should have sung in a lower register. Not sure how far she can go in this competition, as there are always amazing female soul singers each year, but I was impressed.

I always save my fave for last, so the tag goes to Danelle Hayes: She is Pink 2.0… Sounding so much like Pink may end up hurting her in the long run, but it was an impressive audition. I’m hoping she can do more than just scream though, because it can be a bit too much, especially since contestants must sing different styles on a weekly basis.

Tidbits:

For someone who got her rise to fame in a female pop group, Victoria Beckham sure knows nothing about singing. All her comments were fashion related.

I think Simon should experiment with a new hairstyle.

Ellen Degeneres better be an incredible judge, because Paula’s absence is truly hurting the show.

Bikini Boy: WTF???

PK

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Paul Kim - Season 9 Correspondent - Episode 5

Hello idol360 fans! Here we go with another installment of my weekly AI correspondence. Let’s just jump right into it:

Jim Ranger the worship pastor: Decent voice, but just doesn’t have that “it” factor to keep me interested or even remember his audition. I did like his original song though. I don’t see him going very far in the competition.

Mary Powers: The raspy tone was a nice surprise and her diction was reminiscent of an old school vocalist. Again, she didn’t blow me away, but I can see her bad girl image being appealing to a certain demographic.

Tasha Layton: I already know a lot of you probably thought she was boring, but I actually loved her performance. Her tone is very unique and a breath of fresh air. Not sure if she has the type of personality that gets millions of votes on a weekly basis, but I can tell you, she’d sound great in the studio.

Chris Golightly: I’ve seen this name floating around the internet for a few weeks now. Personally, I was disappointed. His vocals are too soft and weak to be able to handle big songs. He does sound quite polished though, as he was only flat on a few notes, and his riffs and runs were clean. The curly do and skin tone just remind me too much of a poor man’s Justin Guarini, but I can see him getting a lot of the tween vote.

Andrew Garcia: Once again, I saved the best for last. And this guy is my new favorite in the entire competition so far. This guy blew me away. His voice is actually very similar to my old buddy Sway Penala from season 5… Andrew is going to go far in this competition; book it. He absolutely nailed that audition, and you can tell there’s a lot more where that came from… Range, power, tone, breath control, riffs, etc. were all on point.

Now for Tidbits:

I really could do without the bad auditions. I know they draw a different variety of viewers, but they just make me cringe, and feel terrible for the poor people being embarrassed on national television.

Have to say the same for all the early back stories. At this point in the show, we should just be seeing these contestants sing. When a certain participant gets a back story, they get an unfair advantage over someone who was barely even shown on the show. Obviously the producers do this intentionally, because they know who they want in the top 12… It’s the reason why Sanjaya was guaranteed millions of votes before he even hit the live portion of the show… Not that he didn’t deserve them.

Avril Lavigne made for a terrible guest judge. I highly doubt she’d get put through to Hollywood if she auditioned for the show.

Katy Perry is ridiculously hot, but does anyone else think she could use a slice of humble pie?

Till we meet again,

PK

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Paul Kim - Season 9 Correspondent - Episode 3

Hello readers of idol360.org! My name is Paul Kim and I will be your correspondent for this season of Idol. Let me start off by saying thank you for stopping by to read my thoughts and opinions on this new crop of contestants, and I guarantee we’re going to have a lot of fun this year. I may plug a project or two of mine on here, but this series of posts is going to be all about you, and all about our favorite show, American Idol!

I must apologize for missing last weeks premiere due to a tremendous workload, but I just saw tonight’s episode and have plenty of thoughts to share.

Let’s start off with Katelyn Epperly. I liked her. She showed off beautiful breath control and tone during the audition, and I don’t think we got a chance to see her full personality doing the short montage. I expect her to be one of those contestants that could grow on America, as she opens up and shows a bit of her wild side during her performances. Although I’m not a huge fan of sob story Idol montages, it was hard not to feel for her mother, who seems like a lovely woman.

Next we have Angela Martin! I actually enjoyed this audition a lot. She showed spunk and her song selection was able to show off her range and power. I’m not a huge fan of the bowl cut on her head, but she made up for it with her presence and confidence.

Now onto Charity Vance. It started out very awkwardly for me, but she settled in nicely. I think she sounds a bit squeaky as she tries to reach for notes in the higher register, but her tone in the lower range is beautiful. There was a unique quality about her vocals that I enjoyed, and her humble personality was also a breath of fresh air. Can’t blame her for not being polished at only 16, but she needs a lot of work to even be considered as the next American Idol. I don’t think she has what it takes just yet, but we could be hearing from her again down the road.

How about Paige DeChausse? Her story was touching, which I’m sure made many of you automatically root for her. Her tone was actually surprisingly nice. I loved her soulful and sultry chops. Unfortunately, it’s painfully obvious that she doesn’t have the ear to stay in key. The audition was all over the place in terms of pitch. She actually switched keys a few times during her rendition of “Change is Gonna Come”.

And of course, I saved the last review for my favorite audition of the night, which was by John Park. Am I a little biased because he’s a fellow Korean brother? Maybe it started out that way, since I didn’t know if the producers were showcasing another William Hung, but I was instantly cheering him on. He sang my favorite song, “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know”, which I was slated to sing had I lasted another week on season 6. I see a bright future for the young man. It’s still too early to judge whether or not he has any power or range in his vocal prowess, but I’m anxious to see more.

Okay, now onto the tidbits:

Is Shania Twain getting more beautiful as she ages? She is stunning… John Park had Shania making googly eyes at him, while I got Olivia Newton John? What the?

That boob boxing woman scared me half to death! What was that?

Something is just missing for me without Paula as a judge. I loved her, and she brought such a comforting and positive vibe to the show, which now seems to be lacking. I can only imagine what will happen once Simon leaves after this season.

As someone who had to go through this process, it’s a scary yet exciting time in the lives of these contestants. As the season progresses, I’ll give you guys some inside info as to what goes on behind the scenes.

Please stay tuned and show your support for idol360. I’m also open to fielding questions from you guys during the week, and answering the good ones in ensuing posts.

Much love,

PK

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Paul Kim - Season 9 Correspondent!

We have a big announcement to make! As Season 9 rolls on in, I am going to need a little help on the site. For that, I have brought in friend of the site, and season 6 Semifinalist Paul Kim to act as our Season 9 Correspondent! Paul will be weighing in with his opinions of the season 9 contestants, song choices, and maybe even give us some insight into the American Idol process! Be on the look out for special posts from Paul Kim!

Didn't watch Season 6? Paul Kim made the top 24 on Season 6 of American Idol. Known for his smoky, yet powerful voice, he quickly became a fan favorite, and earned the praise of the three judges. Paul spent 3 years with EMI Asia as an artist, and was also a writer and vocal producer for several top artists throughout the region while spending time in Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore.

"I like to create music that has substance to it. My goal is to pen something you'll want to hear over and over, without getting tired of it. That's why I tend to shy away from the gimmicks associated with bubblegum pop. When you really sit down and create a beautiful melody in addition to heartfelt lyrics, you will have an undeniable classic that you can hear on the radio a decade later, and want to turn up, and which immediately triggers nostalgia." - Paul Kim

Hear Paul on Myspace, and follow him on twitter.