Semifinal Performances: Jared and Brandon

JARED COTTER
Can I just say that I LOVE that they showed Jared missing a dunk as he says, "One day I realized I wasn't going to make the NBA." I mean, that is genius editing, people. Jared is cute, yeah fine I get it, but I am thoroughly unenthused by both his personality and his performance. Wearing white sneakers does not a pop star make, my friends. His pedestrian performance of Stevie Wonder's "If You Really Love Me" (I mean, Ryan Starr sang it better in Season 1) is kind of cringe-worthy. Not because he's missing notes, just because its so ordinary. (Props to a surprisingly lucid Paula for pointing out that Jared's performance is totally color-less) Is this the same show that turned out Chris Daughtry and Elliott Yamin last year?
Grade: C+

BRANDON ROGERS
Ah, Brandon shows some signs of life, revealing that he's a classical pianist (at least on what looks like the Casio keyboard I had in third grade) It makes me like him a little bit more. See, Sundance, this is what revealing something unknown about you can do. I'm not sure "Celebrate" was the best song choice, and as Randy said he did seem to have trouble with the timing toward the end, but at least he's got a bounce to his step and he's pushing himself more vocally than he has in the past couple of weeks. But still, for a cute guy with a nice voice and professional experience, I wish I was more excited about him. Rickey Smith from Season 2 and George Huff from Season 3 both had better voices and more personality, and yet neither made much of a dent in the competition. I'm afraid that will be Brandon's fate as well.
Grade: B