We’re down to seven rockers, which means we get to see a lot more of the happenings at the mansion. We get two original songs this week. Dilana ran naked around the pool for her song selection. Storm gave up her original song too easily. And everyone has that rawk attitude.
Patrice began the night with her original song, “Beautiful Thing.” It’s a bit of an odd song, though I liked it. She seemed to be trying to cram as many words into the lyrics as she could in spots, and it sounded awkward for it. The vocal range on the song is a little limited, but it does have a nice guitar solo. I still think it’s a little bit too poppy for Supernova, but Tommy Lee said he liked it and could tone it down to be more “rawk” for his band.
Magni did Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” because we just can’t get enough grunge on this show. I think he nailed it - I couldn’t understand a damned lyric of the song, which is the perfect sound for a Nirvana tune. (Ask Weird Al. He wrote a whole song about it.) Navarro liked the angst, and Tommy Lee told him to play the guitar next time and break it half way through the song.
Pay attention, people: That’s called foreshadowing!
Ryan played an original song called “Back of Your Car.” And here I thought Dilana’s rock anthem to partying at her house showed complex lyrics in the webisode. . . No, this one is just slightly deeper, but vastly more entertaining. He’s a lot looser on stage, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone play a guitar on stage like a madman like that before. He was hurting the guitar, the way he slapped it around and slammed on the strings. It was the nuttiest bit of guitar playing in the show’s history.
And then he threw the guitar away, though it didn’t quite make it off-stage and into the pit. The camera cut directly to Magni’s face, who looked non-plussed. Give it to the show’s producers and directors — they always know who to cut to during a performance or a commentary for a reaction.
It was a memorable performance and a great song for the band. Ryan is quickly turning into a leading contendor for the title on this show.
Storm went with Aerosmith’s “Crying,” because she thought it was a challenging song that nobody else could do. Before taking the stage, she took the jersey off she was wearing to reveal her black corset over a mesh top that, well, I think she might have stolen from Zayra and stretched out to fit. But more on Zayra’s influence a little later in the show.
I wasn’t impressed by the performance or the singing ability all that much. She didn’t embarrass herself with it. (Remember Jordis doing “Dream On” last season? PAINFUL!) But it felt too safe, and too karaoke. She didn’t show a great range with the song. She got through it, but that’s all I saw. I’m still not sure if she blew a lyric or not just before the song shifted into high gear, too. There was a weird look on her face, a couple bars’ worth of pause, and then the next movement of the song. I thought she missed something, but maybe I’m reading too much into it.
The band loved it, though — the singing, the performance, the corset. They’re getting hot to trot as this season goes on.
Dilana ran naked around the pool to get The Police’s “Every Breath You Take.” And I don’t know why. It was a boring performance of a song far too slow for this band. It was too tame, and her Zayra-inspired wardrobe couldn’t help it — not the black junky tutu she was wearing, nor the pink flamingo eye lashes that jutted a foot in front of her forehead. Nope. I mean, her singing was on key and everything, but it was more karaoke and not memorable at all.
And, again, the band loved it. I’m really out of step with the band this week, who continued their creepy flirting with Dilana.
Toby did a new arrangement for “Layla,” a song which requires a new arrangement every decade or so. It was OK, but it lost a lot of its momentum in the arranging. He missed the opportunity in the performance to get down on his knees to match the lyrics. I think that might be a good thing, though. His voice was fine and the performance was energetic, but I knew that hoodie was covering something up. . .
Lukas finished with a song I just don’t know, The Killers’ “All These Things That I’ve Done.” Again, he kept walking away from the crowd and Gilby called him on it. Aside from that, I don’t know what else to say. Anyone have an opinion on this one?
In the early voting, Patrice, Storm, and Toby are in trouble.
You might remember that Weird Al’s next album was originally 
