I saw The Voice for the first time tonight. Besides Frenchie Davis showing up on there, I immediately recognized the singing sisters. i remembered their names first, properly, but I had no doubt who they were: Tori and Taylor Thompson, of American Juniors fame. Eight years ago, they were in the winning group formed by American Juniors that so famously did nothing, released nothing, and disappeared into obscurity. Lucy Hale — the eldest and best of the lot — has since done acting, but The Thompson Sisters stuck with the singing, bouncing from country fair to country fair. And then they, and their parents, found The Voice on NBC and returned to our living rooms for 2011.

Here’s some video of those original auditions. You’ll see Mom is in there, too:

Now you have “One Step Closer to Heaven” stuck in your head again, don’t you? It’s OK to scream. Go ahead…

Wait, was that Carrie Ann Inaba from “Dancing With the Stars” choreographing the kids? Crazy small world…

Here’s one of the spare comments I wrote about them at the time:

In the end, Chauncey is the lucky guy with four cute girls surrounding him, and the Thompson Twins’ parents are the lucky ones who don’t have to worry about favoring one sister over the other in the coming months or weeks. (I know they’re not twins, but I like the 80s sound of calling them that.) Lucy Hale will be the first to leave to pursue a solo act, and I’m afraid I’m not nearly crass enough to predict who will get the first Playboy spread in a few years….

That I know of, there have been no Playboy spreads yet…

I remember when the finalists were chosen that we all figured the second sister would make it once the first did. Sure enough, that happened.

And since that night, I can’t get “We’re the Kids In America” song out of my head when I think of the show. Watch them all in action once again, to refresh your memories.

Or, watch the whole group sing with judge Debbie Gibson, who’s now on tour with Tiffany, by the way:

So, judges, don’t you feel so smart for saving Casey now?

When Ryan Seacrest announced the results, who do you think they had to drop the audio because of?  Randy Jackson?  Someone swore, and deservedly so.

Better question: Were tonight’s results more reminiscent of Daughtry or Jennifer Hudson? In the NYC area, “Daughtry” is a trending topic.

Daughtry trends on Twitter because of Pia

Chris Daughtry responds:

Twitter's Instant Reactions

Daughtry made it to the Round of 4 that year, though. Hudson went out with only 7 contestants to go. As I explained in 2004, she lost because of vote splitting (three divas, including the amazing Latoya London). Daughtry lost because his fans assumed they were safe. So, yeah, Pia is Daughtry II.

Here’s the problem with Simon being gone, too: There’s no negative criticism anymore.  It used to be that Simon would lambaste someone and that would strike up the fanbase to vote vote vote. This week, the judges said nary a negative review to anyone, so no fanbase was energized.  That said, who did the judges go after the “hardest” this week? Pia. Yeah, we get it, she has no groove.  She probably should have stood still behind the mic stand for another week and avoided those criticisms all together, or made the judges look silly for repeating them again.

Good job, judges.

But they saved Casey.

Good job, judges.

Pia’s problem is a typical one for Idol contestants: She’s too good, too early, and too consistent. Voters love an arc in a reality show as much as they do in a movie.  They want to see someone come on strong and peak down the home stretch.  They don’t want someone who’s better than everyone else from Day One and then continue to be The Best each and every week. That’s boring.

She also had never been in the bottom 3 before, so her fanbase didn’t mobilize.  You can bet Paul was safe this week because he was almost cut last week.

Jacob was in the bottom three because he did a fair karaoke job, and because he went first.  Everyone forgot him by the time the show ended because he went on so early and didn’t do anything terribly memorable.

And Stefano was in the bottom three because he has no fanbase.  He’ll be in the bottom three every week until he’s gone.  All other rules being equal, he just doesn’t get the support.

But Pia almost never stood a chance.  You can’t be that amazing every week without people coming to expect it.  The slightest stumble would have doomed her.  The biggest song of the week would have been expected.  It’s just the way Idol is set up.

Also, the voting fanbase for “Idol” is tween girls.  They’re not voting for anyone but the boys they think are dreamy.  Six boys and two girls are left.  The girls are dropping like flies, and I hope Haley is next.  She’s painful to watch.

Pia has one other problem.  She doesn’t have a personality that makes you want to like her.  She comes off a bit as a beauty queen, always with the perfectly nice and perfectly political response to any question anyone ever asks.  She smiles politely and welcomes all feedback. She keeps perfect posture and never cracks.  She’s a bit aloof and, at times, almost a bit arrogant.  When her name was called for making the Top 12, the look on her face said, “Yeah, I know” instead of “Yes! I’m happy and shocked!” like all good Idol contestants should.

Here’s the upside for Pia: Going out so early in such a firestorm of controversy?  People will always remember her. Plenty of good singers have gone out before the Final Six.  You’ve forgotten most of their names already.  You won’t forget Pia.

The only dumber thing than Pia getting voted out this week was Jacob saying that if he went home, it wasn’t because of anything he did, but rather because America couldn’t look at itself in the mirror.  I’m still trying to figure out what that means.  At best, it’s arrogance.  At worst, it’s a nasty little racially charged thing.  I wanted him voted out this week just for that.

By the way, my DVR cut off the last minute of the show. They didn’t institute a second Judges Choice at the last second, did they?  Maybe Nigel should consider that.

Parting thought: I think Simon left “American Idol” so he wouldn’t have to listen to Constantine Maroulis sing “Unchained Melody.”

Extra bonus thought: Just to show you how much better Pia is than the other two girls on the show, look at the opening medley.  She blew the two away in their opening lines.  It wasn’t even close.

And, of course, the surprises were fun to watch. First, the group singalongs are miraculously improved when the mics are live, and it’s not all lip-synched. This year, it’s made a major difference. I don’t cringe at watching the contestants put on a happy face and cover their mouths with the mics to hide their poor synching skills. Second, bringing out Stevie Wonder was certainly a coup. It looks like they kept Steven Tyler in the dark about that. Don’t know about the other two judges. I presume they were in on it to help sell the birthday surprise for Tyler that came next.

The Hulk Hogan appearance was pure gold. Yeah, I hate wrestling, too, but to see James collapse with that big a smile on his face was fun.

The whole show tonight had the air of a season finale, with surprise after surprise.

And speaking of collapses — I was nearly certain we were going to have our first live on-air casualty on reality TV. Casey is not a well man. He’s been in and out of the hospital a couple of times since the series began. I think they’ve officially blamed stomach issues. I thought Ryan was giving him a heart attack tonight. It was almost uncomfortable to watch.

Also, I presume they reset the seven second delay at each commercial break? Those contestants all have quite the potty-mouths. Lots of audio drop-outs tonight, and they didn’t come from Steven Tyler’s seat.

Also, it’s nice of the producers to put a silver box around the bare speakers that sit atop the judges’ table now. I don’t know if they’ve been there all season, but I first noticed them last week. Those two big black boxes looked a little unfinished. I guess they need them at the judges table with the contestants using in-ears so there isn’t any feedback or something? Don’t remember seeing them there before, ever. The judges have always said that it can be tough to judge the live performances with all the audience noise, so maybe those speakers are there to help?

In any case, great results show tonight. Looking forward to next week now. Will they be eliminating two contestants next week, still?

Now, the only question is, did they do the right thing in saving Casey? I’ve championed him in the past, but to be honest, I’m not sure it was such a good idea. They should have saved it in case something tragic happened like Pia landing at the bottom due to fan complacency. Or what about Jacob or James? Should Casey win this whole thing? No. He’s entertaining, but he’s not the Idol. Ditto Paul McDonald, who might be the weakest guy, vocally, though he’s always interesting to watch and had a very good song this week.

And just when can we rid ourselves of this year’s most annoying contestant, Haley?

And how could they not mention Latoya London’s performance of the song, which has set the Idol standard for it:

Where Pia is all technical and precide, Latoya’s version of the song builds better and has more raw emotion. I think Pia did better last week, still.

That video clip is fun to watch just for Ryan Seacrest at the end, back in his “I’m everyone’s brother on this show” mode. Now, he’s “Smarmy television host in a suit.”

One more cool Carmen fact from Wikipedia: “Carmen’s full version has an extended piano solo and lasts over seven minutes”

Bonus Idol video of Asia’h Epperson (yeah, I had forgotten her, too) from season 7 doing the same song after the break. It wasn’t pretty, but she was also sick at the time:

Ta-Tynisa Wilson chose a bad Idol song.  This is an auto-tuned song that she’s trying to sing straight.  She got lucky that the new band is addicted to awful sounding synth effects, so she almost made it work.  But no.  Steven Tyler and J-Lo, as always, love everyone too much.  I’m glad Randy is so comfortable in the Bad Guy role.  He’s the only sane one on that panel now.  Crazy world, eh?

Wait a second, was she always “Ta-Tynisa?”  That names sounds different to me, and Idol does have a history of people changing their names before hitting this round…  GOOGLE!

Yup, that’s always been her name. Maybe she added the dash, but that’s it.  Ah, well…

Naima Adedapo went with “Summertime.”  Get ready for the Fantasia comparisons.  And she’s dancing to the opening music.  But she’s not going for the lower sultrier Fantasia version.  This one is more jazzy.  It’s OK. She stays on pitch and it’s good to hear a different version of it, but I’m not ready to crown her just yet.

And there’s Randy with the comparison.  Yup.

Two contestants in and my spellchecker is having a stroke…

Kendra Chantelle is showing great control and is hitting her notes.  The band is mixed a little too high, and the song itself never gets out of second gear, but her vocal is clear.  I like that.  And I think all the hand gesturing this season is going to bother me this year for some reason.  I remember Debra Byrd once picking on a contestant for doing all the obvious hand gestures (finger running down the cheek on a lyric for cry”).  I hope they start reminding contestants of that in the future…

Rachel Zevita is a nut, isn’t she?  That makes her interesting, and a little bit, er, gothy? Crazy? Oh dear god, she’s a bit too melodramatic/theatrical.  Did she almost forget the words in the beginning there?  I just don’t buy her as a sex kitten. And her voice died somewhere near the judges’ table.  This is going badly.  She tried too hard and it didn’t work.  Ouch.  And the judges let her have it.  Is she going to cry?

Oh, boy.  ”I was having a good time.”  Words of death on this show.  The ultimate bad defense.  Crash and burn?

Karen Rodriquez went down the Mariah well.  Uh oh.  And then switches to Spanish, and I’m out.  Oh, boy, she’s really stuck in the middle of this song.  Even when she belts out a note, it still sounds like it’s in the middle of her range.  And the hand gestures are so literal it’s painful.

That “Love You, Mom” will get her a few votes.  The Spanish will carry Southern California, Texas, and Florida in the voting.  They are powerhouses.

Someone needs to explain to J-Lo that “Romance Language” refers to Rome and not “romance,” though. UGH.

Or maybe I’m cranky tonight. I’m not liking anyone too much, really.

More crankiness after the break, and two Idol Moments?

Lauren Turner has always reminded me of that friend living in the apartment next to yours in the city, not a pop star.  She’s the shoulder everyone cries on.  She’s the best friend you bitch about all your friends to.  Pop star? Not so sure.

Me, fair?  Why start now?

In any case, it’s an odd song, but she sang it well. I like the deeper part of her voice, which most of these girls don’t have.  And she held control of her voice, in and out of the power part.

And now J Lo is complaining she’s not acting enough.  A minute ago, they complained that a contestant was too Broadway.  Lauren, they complain, needed to get in the camera’s face and really act.  The judges are confusing us early this season.

Ashthon Jones really showed up in the group round, so I’m looking forward to this one.  Wait, her leggings have zippers?  Weird.  The song seems to fit her style, and she’s staying with it, acting without overacting.  Not my style, but she’s good at what she does.

J Lo is calling her a diva — in other words, just what Idol wants this season.

Julie Zorilla goes Kelly Clarkson.  She chose to sing in her prom dress. Or maybe her ballerina Halloween costume?  Oh, dear god, someone pin her arms to her sides. They’re annoying.  The band is overplaying and drowning her out.  The judges are not amused.  Ooh, this is bad.  It’s a power song that she doesn’t have the power for. She’s drowning. And she couldn’t hold the falsetto at the end.

She’s meek.

Crash. And. Burn.  That was probably worse than Rachel.

Haley Reinhart goes to Alicia Keys.  Oh, bot, that rarely works.  This is karaoke, like a little girl trying to play rock star or something.  Plus, I feel vaguely uncomfortable when she tries to play sexy.  What is she, 17?

But, she has diva potential, so Idol wants her.

Randy called her karaoke, so at least we’re on the same wavelength.

“If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.”  Steven Tyler wins comment of the night.

The problem, though, is that she’s a Miss America contestant, trying to solve the world’s problems through song and sharing her gift with blah blah blah.

Thia Megia goes a capella at the start. And she’s not oversinging it. The opening is soft and quiet and impressive. Everything else is controlled, vibrant, and shows some range.  I like her.  Will it be enough to get votes?  I don’t know, but for the first time, the band isn’t overpowering a singer.  Just her and the piano, and it works. It works big.  I like it.  She didn’t do all the runs, which every other singer on that stage tonight would have done.  Thank goodness for that.

If she cries now, she wins.

Dammit, that song might be our first Idol Moment of the season.

Probably the Judges’ Choice, if need be.

Lauren Alaina has had lots of air time this season, so she’s an early favorite for the Top 10.  This song is not showing off her voice, though. She has a much better voice than the range this songs gives her. Plus, the band is all over her.

She needs to choke up on that microphone a bit, too.

Not a bad performance at all, but it doesn’t do everything for her than it could.

Randy’s description of Lauren as a mix of Kelly and Carrie makes sense.

Pia Toscano to close means she’s going to be good, which isn’t a shock, given how strong she came on in Hollywood.

Wow.

SHe’s the ultimate Idol diva. Holy crap. Can hold a note. Can do power.  Can do something soft.  Can belt it out.  Best performance of the night by far.  IDOL MOMENT.

You know the thing that puts that song over the top?  She hit three classic Idol long notes in a row to end the song — WITHOUT making any of them into runs.

Most impressive.

Did Tyler just say “After Monday and Tuesday, even a week says ‘WTF’”?  I never realized that before. I’m so slow.

Watching the recap now is a string of disappointments next to Pia.  She’s the woman who made girls out of the rest of them.

She and Thia steal the night for me, and will likely both go through.  Who else?  It’s more of a toss-up on that one for me.  I know Rachel and Julie won’t. Ta-Tynisa is likely out.  Naimi might fall because she went so early people forgot her.  The rest is up in the air.

Casey Abrams is the one contestant right now that makes me want to jump up and start dialing the phone. He’s unpredictable, he’s funny, and he backs it all up with musical ability. It’s scary. Strange, but scary. What he did tonight made me laugh at least three times, and I like that.

Paul McDonald almost gets there into Casey’s stratosphere, but I’m afraid tonight’s karaoke may doom him. He’s awkward and unpredictable and I like that, but I don’t think it’ll be enough to carry him through. He doesn’t have a good background story to draw from like so many of the other “early favorites” do.

Robbie Rosen didn’t sing a Neil Diamond song. Bad move. He has this going for him: He’s young. That’ll get him a good number of votes. But if it’s all based on that song tonight, he’s done. So let’s eliminate him now.

Scott McCreery stands out. He’s the only country guy this year, and we’ve seen in previous seasons that the country voting bloc is a strong one. I think he’ll make it through.

Tim Halperin is doomed. I’m guessing that the rule came down for no instruments this week. He needed a piano. That’s when he does his best work. Without it, this week he sang a perfectly competent cover tune that I’ve already forgotten. Shame.

Jordan Dorsey is arrogant and not nearly as great as he thinks he is. However, he’s the only guy covering that genre of music this week with an Usher cover. That might get him votes. Otherwise, he’s done. Like Tim, he went the wrong way with his song selection and it’ll be his undoing. Also, he’s fawning and obsequious. Check out how quickly he agrees with the judges when they tell him he was wrong, and then how quickly he defends himself to Ryan Seacrest. I got whiplash from watching him bounce around so quickly like that.

James Durbin is going through. He’s basically warmed-over Adam Lambert, but to the rock side, as opposed to the theatrical side. Doesn’t do much for me, but it seems that the judges and the studio audience wants a screamer this year. Speaking of which

Jacob Lusk is a guaranteed Top 12 contestant. If the votes somehow don’t go his way, the judges will make him their choice. No doubt. I think he’s overrated and too wild and uncontrolled, but I know when I’m outnumbered. Still, I want to see the Jacob/James duet this season. I think we’d see a lot of cases of laryngitis after such a thing…

Clint Jun Gamboa will likely fall victim to the “Going First” death spot on the lineup. I’m not a big fan, so that doesn’t bother me.

Brett Loewenstern sounded absolutely awful to me. But, again, I fear I’m outnumbered. He’d be an easily one to drop off the show Thursday night, but he has a lot going for him in the 12 – 17 female demographic that controls the vote so much.

Jovany Barreto can sing. I believe that. I just didn’t like that performance tonight. He can go.

Stefano Langone is the contestant I always pair with Jovany in my mind. And he was good with his song, but not memorable. He didn’t scream nearly loudly or shrieky enough to get the votes.

So, that all said, who goes through from the audience vote? I’ll go with:

• Jacob
• James
• Scotty
• Casey
• Brett

Judges will choose between Robbie and Paul for their choice. Or maybe they’ll just pick two girls, instead. We’ll see how tomorrow night goes.

On the other hand, it gives us a better insight into people’s characters.  We get to see who the selfish punks are who would kick a 15 year old kid out of their group, who the nutcases are who quit under the first bit of pressure, and who the opinionated know-it-alls are who think they’re the only right ones in the building.

This year’s two hour Group Night extravaganza was spectacular.  So while I may think it’s unnecessary and counter-productive, it makes for great TV and isn’t that what we all want?

The results from that show us, however, that Idol really wants a diva to win this year.  Badly.  Everyone who can screech, scream, and make a single note into a warbling mess without any regard for the rhythm or melody of the music got high praise.  The more you scream and wrench every note out of a single syllable, the more Randy, J-Lo, and Steven will love you.  Given the judging panel, that shouldn’t be a surprise.  Steven often harmonizes on that screaming.

Welcome to the backlash to the singer/songwriter successes of the last three years.  Well, the problem with them is that they weren’t as successful as Idol would have liked.

Last night also promised a big twist — which was the preview to next week’s episode.  OK.  Because the Idol producers can’t milk the Beatles catalog any more, can they?

We go all the way back to the first season wtih Nikki McKibbin’s cover:

Carly Smithson covered it in a latter season:

It gets wilder and wackier after this break:

Noted rehab visitor Jessica Sierra sang it on Idol once. I can’t find that video right now, but here’s a clip of her singing it on the live tour with Scott Savol:

Michael Johns once sang it live with The Dan Band: (Again, SERIOUSLY NSFW language here)

And here’s Allison Iraheta on a TV show overseas somewhere covering it:

Finally, I know it’s not Idol, but I had to save The Master of Music for last. Ladies and Gentlemen, William Shatner:

* I forgot to mention in my Milwaukee AI10 round-up that one of my favorite songs was used as a bed in the opening. It’s Marc Broussard’s “Home,” and it comes highly recommended. It’s available on Amazon MP3 and probably iTunes, though I don’t have a link for it there at the moment.

* With any luck, the Nashville write-up will come this weekend, if anything interesting happened.

* Who’s the guy who discovered Sea Salt? He must be making a fortune, because suddenly it’s all the rage. The latest is in Wendy’s French Fries. I hate it when the fries I like change recipes. Burger King never recovered from their change a decade ago. When Wendy’s made the switch, I was worried. But, I think it actually improved the fries. I love them.

But what’s up with Sea Salt? Cheaper? Latest health craze? Makes cooking quicker? What do you think it is? The cynic in me doubts that it’s in there because it just makes food taste better. That has to be an accidental side benefit.

* Saw someone complaining the other day that Near Field Communications might change life as we know it if the next iPhone has one. Why the complaint? Because there’s an Android phone or two that have already had it for months now, and nobody got excited. This, the commenter said, was a sign of Apple Fanboyism in the press.

No, it’s a sign of reality. Android users don’t use their phone nearly as much as iPhone users do. Apps don’t fly out of the Android store the same way that they do with the App Store. And Apple has tens of millions of credit card numbers on file. Android — well, doesn’t. It’s the Apple infrastructure that makes the possibility of NFC so exciting. The pieces are in place if Apple wants to pounce on it.

* Apple’s “competition,” meantime, is keeping things classy:

“I’ve seen the NGP up close and the screen is the most beautiful gear I’ve ever seen in my hand. It punches the iPhone 4 screen in the junk,” said James Mielke, a producer at Tokyo game design studio Q Entertainment, on Twitter following the announcement.

The NGP is the “Next Generation Portable” that Sony plans to release for Christmas this year. It’s the next PSP. And the specs on it are so amazing that you know the battery life will be dwarfed by everything else in creation that runs on batteries. They claim it’ll run as long on a single charge as a Nintendo 3DS, but I’m not sure I believe those numbers either. Battery life is never up to the figures the manufacturers claim, after all.

* “Strength to strength” is another one of those overused phrases I’d like to see banished from the internet. It used to be just Brits I heard use it, but now it seems to be a worldwide thing. Thanks for that import, UK!

• Steven Tyler is filling the Ozzy Osbourne quotient of Crazed End of Career Whacked Out Ex-Druggie Who Might Say Anything Next on a Reality Show role. That said, I did laugh at the match/duck line that cracked up the entire staff in the studio. . .
• The judges are still being pushovers. Randy’s initial instinct and Jennifer Lopez’s “no” vote were correct for Emma Henry, the girl who drove on a learner’s permit to the audition. She’s good for her age, but she’s not strong enough yet. She needs more training and more experience. She’ll be joining a large contingent of contestants in Hollywood who don’t stand a chance and will be easy cannon fodder. EASY. The only question is, will the judges toughen up on Hollywood Week? Or will they keep pushing people through until the last minute and then unleash the bloodbath?
• The teenager who led the show with his deep singing voice, Scotty McCreery, won’t go far, either. He doesn’t have any range. He’d get boring after a couple of weeks in the top ten, except for the fact that the country viewers of Idol always vote for their own in strong numbers. He is good television as a novelty act, though. That voice is ridiculous, in a positive way.
• Hey, Danny Gokey is alive!
• Jerome Bell is overrated and screams too much. This, by the way, is a winning audition for Steven Tyler, contestants. Pay attention for the next set of auditions. Punctuate your audition with a high note into a scream (whether necessary or not) and you’ll go places.
• And let’s start sucking it up, contestants. This is doubly true if you’re 15 or 16. Yes, “Idol” might change your life. (It has led to much more public stints in rehab for the likes of Jessica Sierra and Mikki McKibbin, for starters.) So stop year crying already. Come back next year. Just because you’ve been watching the show since you were a zygote doesn’t entitle you to winning it TODAY. A little crying today will save you lots of crying after the flight to Hollywood.