The time has come for America to allow Ryan Seacrest to hang out in the living room and bedrooms two nights a week in homes all across America. Yes, American Idol is on again and the Top 24 with one Gentle Giant addition have crooned, crowed, and cried out into their microphones, begging for the 2012 television series audience votes. On the first two real nights of the competition, the aspiring Idols performed in front of a live studio audience and in front of millions of television viewers who turned in to see which ones were pitchy, who screamed, and who was able to hold a note on key. Two front-runners have emerged — Reed Grimm and Jessica Sanchez. Will they end up being the ones to beat?
American Idol 2012 has some fierce competitors but early predictions about which of the men and women have what it takes to go all the way to the end have already begun. Since the folks at Fox split the top 24 into a girl’s team and a boy’s team, people are wondering which of the men could be a competitor and which of the women will have the strength to compete with the boys. Since Scotty McCreery beat out Lauren Alaina for the right to call themselves the American Idol champ, it looks like there are two big voices to beat in the 2012 season — Jessica Sanchez is the gal to beat for the girl’s team and Reed Grimm is the man to try to catch for both genders. But will Reed’s quirky and erratic behavior do him in with the judges?
Pop Crush reports Grimm already looks and acts like a real rock star of the highest caliber no matter how the Idol vote goes. The celeb gossip website says:
Contestant Reed Grimm was the lucky guy who got to kickstart the live competition on ‘American Idol‘… He gave [viewers] a jazzy rendition of ‘Moves Like Jagger’ by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera and even if he was feeling the heat of being the first to go, he certainly didn’t show that he was sweating.
Grimm may have [begun] his segment by taking his camera home and telling us that his hometown of Ellsworth was famous for being the ‘Cheese Curd Capital of Wisconsin,’ but we’re thinking soon they may have something more exciting to brag about. Randy Jackson complimented the singer on his choice of song and being “bold enough to start the season like this.”
Midway through the performance, Grimm took it to a set of drums and really brought it home. At that point we were sold, and we think the judges were too. Jennifer Lopez told Grimm, “You are jazzy, you are musical, you have an amazing voice, and I think you showed that,” while Steven Tyler asserted that not only was there a whole new generation watching him, but that he loved it.
But at the end of the girls night on February 29th, when Ryan Seacrest asked judges to look back and discuss who the early front-runners from the men’s group had been on February 28th, Reed’s name was not mentioned with any emphasis. Jennifer Lopez, Randy Jackson, and Steven Tyler all seemed to overlook Grimm as he stood grinning and swaying in the back row of the men.
Grimm did everything but wave an American flag to get their attention in the hopes they might mention his name. But, no go.
The artist (and we’re calling him an artist because he seems to be more of a musical genius with an infectious singing style) has befuddled the judges by growing out on stage while showing off the fact he can play drums as well as sing. They have all warned him that American Idol is a singing competition, but Grimm refuses to listen.
Instead, the singer wants America to know he is also a talented musician.
For that reason, he might not make it all the way through to the end of the competition — noting that if judges give praise to a singer or criticism, their words tend to greatly influence the phone-in votes all across America.
Compared to Reed Grimm, singer — scratch that… INCREDIBLE singer — Jessica Sanchez (the Asian girl with the Latino last name) is willing to train, willing to accept positive criticism, and puts her heart and soul into making sure her vocals are flawless.
Sanchez sang with stressed vocal cords and no rehearsal time before her stunning performance. While several of the other women she’s competing against seemed to spend more time trying to make themselves look perfect or acting artsy at the expense of practicing their vocals, the minnie-might powerhouse managed to look self-styled but to sing spectacularly.
If she’s the one to beat this season, guys and girls are both going to need to step up their game and to do everything in their power to generate votes when the cameras are not rolling. Why? Because voting for Jessica Sanchez is likely to come so easy for such a broad range demographic, it will be hard for anyone to compete with her… except, that is, for Reed Grimm.
But when the end day finally arrives, whoever wins and those who have excelled in the competition are likely to all go on to have big careers in the music business.
Look at Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina for example. The two are both considered star celebs despite the fact the he won the Idol championship and she lost it. Seeing either of the teens perform live shows they are both continuing to improve as they get more comfortable performing in front of large crowds, and barring anything strange or scandalous happening ten years from now one can safely assume each will be huge country music stars with far more fame and chart-topping songs under their belts than they can already boast about now.
Watch Reed Grimm perform live on American Idol in the video clip below then tell readers your thoughts. Will he be the male vocalist to beat on the 2012 show?