Reality Check - 'Idol' Top 13, and the Christina Grimmie Problem - Video
TVLine.com's Michael Slezak returns with American Idol Season 6 finalist Melinda Doolittle for an all-new Reality Check, dissecting the week in reality singing competitions!
Michael and Melinda have a bit of a bone to pick with the production on the very first Top 13 show of American Idol XIII, as many of the contestants appeared to have trouble hearing themselves, causing pitch problems across the board. Of course, beyond this critique, there are some raves to be handed out. Which contestants landed high on Michael and Melinda's respective lists? And which contestant has fallen considerably after her week one performance? Also, Michael and Melinda tackle week one of The Voice Season 6 and question whether it's fair for someone to audition for the show when they bring millions of YouTube subscribers and hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers into the competition with them from day one. Is Christina Grimmie going to be another Cassadee Pope? Or is too much being made of her ascension? It's another solid episode, and you can watch the full video below via TVLine:
Credit: TVLine
Thoughts
I wasn't nearly as down on MK's performance, but I could see exactly what they were saying about it, and how far she's fallen relative to where she was. I think if it were just a vocal for us to listen to, and not a performance we had to watch, MK would have probably ranked far higher on some people's lists. But she just seemed so disjointed the entire time that it made for an awkward watch. That said, I really do hope she bounces back from this, because she's one of my absolute favorites in the competition. There just hasn't been anyone like her on this before, much less someone like her who's made it this far. I can't wait to see what she does next.
Conversely, I'm not nearly as high on Jessica Meuse. I like her quite a bit, but there's just something about her that feels old hat on the Idol stage. It's not really her fault, I guess, since that's just the kind of artist she is. But it doesn't excite me, even while I can admit just how wonderful her voice often sounds.
As for the Christina Grimmie business, I'm reserving judgment. Sure, on a general level it's not exactly fair to come into the competition with a built-in fanbase, but as Melinda says, The Voice is a second-chance show, so I don't really begrudge her taking this avenue. However, like Melinda also says, Christina still feels like she's in the midst of her first chance, so perhaps this probably isn't all that fair after all. I can't really speak to it, since I'm not certain what kind of avenues she's taken to stardom in the past. And really, touring with Selena Gomez isn't all that different, to me, from Judith Hill appearing in This Is It alongside Michael Jackson. Sure, her built-in fanbase wasn't nearly as large as Christina's, but I don't think having this fanbase at the start necessarily guarantees a Cassadee Pope-style march to victory. And, unfortunate as it is to say, even if Christina does have her inevitable victory march, who's to say her career will actually be any better off than it was before she appeared on the show?
Anyway, I'll defer to you guys for comment, since I think ya'll have better, more informative things to say than I do. What do you think of the opinions in the video? Of the Christina Grimmie issue? Of the rise of contestants like Caleb Johnson, Majesty Rose, Jessica Meuse, and Alex Preston? And the decline of contestants like MK Nobilette and Malaya Watson? Sound off in the comments!