American Idol: Hungry Like DeWolf

Guest judge Katy Perry famously smacked Kara DioGuardi down during last year’s audition rounds when Kara was blathering about a contestant’s sob story by reminding her that, “This isn’t a Lifetime movie, sweetheart.”

(I also remember that as the exact moment that I started thinking that Katy Perry was kinda cool.)

Well, if “American Idol” was actually “Backstory Idol”, then Chris Medina just won.

I’m not here to tell you how you should feel about a contestant on a reality singing competition offering up his life with his brain injury-addled fiancée for consumption by the entire country. Maybe you think it’s sweet that this guy — who is obviously fiercely loyal and has an unlimited amount of love for his partner — chose to share this experience with her. Maybe you think it was a way for a marginally-talented singer to get noticed by TV producers.

All I know is that I couldn’t help but tear up, especially when Steven “Don’t Call Me ‘Steve’” Tyler knelt over Juliana’s wheelchair, warmly embraced her and said, “He sings so well because he sings for you.”

I’d probably feel a lot less guilty (and a lot less manipulated) about tearing up if the producers hadn’t unofficially made the last 10 minutes of every “Idol” episode so far this year the Sob Story Slot, but it is what it is. (You could tell they saved it for last because the judges were CLEARLY wearing their clothes from the first day of auditions.) As for Chris’ actual singing: his version of The Script’s “Breakeven” was competent, but unspectacular. If he makes it to the viewer voting rounds, he has some work to do to change the perception that people would vote for his story instead of his voice. (All this, with Danny Gokey in da house!)

All that aside, this was the second consecutive incredibly solid episode of “Idol”, in terms of potential superstars. (This was also the second consecutive OUSTANDING episode for Steven Tyler, who began by attempting to jam out with Randy to “Sweet Emotion”, added a dramatic hair flip to the camera, and mixed in some random wails. Basically, I’m loving how much he’s loving being on this show!)

We have to start with Harvard graduate/White House intern/Randy Jackson face-punch victim (loved the sound effect) Molly DeWolf Swenson (pictured, right), who probably also fights crime at night. The Joely Richardon lookalike's version of “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” started out so low, it was INSANE. In fact, let’s go to special correspondent Erica (reporting from the couch next to me) for her take. “It was one of the best auditions I’ve ever seen on this show.” (Well, then.) Really, her only flaw is that she may be perceived as too perfect and may not get enough viewer support. (“She works at the White House, she doesn’t NEED this!” — the last time I heard people say, “She doesn’t need this”, we would up with Lee DeWyze as our “American Idol.” Just sayin’.)

Speaking of singing low, there’s no denying that 16-going-on-32-year-old Scotty McCreery has top 12 potential and an early lock on the country singer slot. He seems likable, confident and assured. I just worry about what he’s going to do during the inevitable Beetles Week. (Among other non-country themes.)

Those two are the obvious ones. I’d also keep my eye on Summerfest worker/Summerfest stage piner Naima Adedapo, who really is striking looking and had a quietly excellent audition with her version of Donny Hathaway’s “For All We Know.” And although I didn’t flip for him nearly as much as J.Lo (the best she’d heard so far), I’d be surprised if we’ve heard the last of Scott Dangerfield, who’s got that dorky-yet-completely cool vibe totally down. He was similarly confident and assured during his rendition of “Dreamin’”

Other than that, the most significant moment of the episode was that one time I 100% agreed with a Randy Jackson critique. I think he was absolutely right to say that 15-year-old Emma Henry (with her textured, ultra-shaky version of “True Colors”) was simply not ready for this show yet, and would probably get swallowed up. Of course, he lost me at the part where he gave in once Emma started crying, but we were totally in synch for half a minute.

Fortunately, all 15 year olds are not created equal. This was proven by Thia Megia who rocked her audition with a strong version of “Chasing Pavements.” I just worry about her potentially being derivative. (Will she be as good or interesting when she’s not mimicking Adele?) I have a similar concern for rocker girl Alyson Jados, who squeaked through after banging out versions of “Come Together” and “Dream On” straight out of the Rocker Grrrl playbook. Then again, maybe Alyson will sound better when she’s not trembling from the excitement of meeting her idol Steven Tyler.

Still, as much as I’m (mostly) enjoying the new judging panel, I don’t always agree with them. For example, I think bat mitzvah/wedding singer Jerome Bell sang very well (and has star quality), but I also think he needed to dial it WAAAAY down during his rendition of “Let’s Get It On.” (Meanwhile, the judges seemed to actually love that it was all over the place.) Also, I didn’t get the Tiwan Strong thing at all. His “Twistin’ the Night Away” was competent at best, but didn’t show me why he’d be a relevant artist in 2011. Plus, it’s not good to be completely overshadowed by a relative with a charley horse. Finally, I think the judges were more impressed by how surprisingly good accountant Steve “Big Goon” Beghun was, than they would have been if he didn’t look like a giant dork. (Then again, I actually kinda like this guy.)

Overall, the episode gave us two hours of mostly solid singing with giant toothbrushes, Civil War re-enactors, operatic Justin Bieber fans, and clueless DJs sprinkled in.

So what’d you think of this episode? Does “Idol” have a bias against non-size 0 women, as Vernika Patterson claimed? Would it be too mean of me to suggest that Vernika take a look at a picture of Jordin Sparks or Fantasia (or a recent picture of Kelly Clarkson) as an argument against that? Could anyone else pull off a treble clef shirt? (Did J.Lo even pull off a treble clef shirt?) Finally, where do you stand on the Chris Medina issue?