Handicapping American Idol 6

Finale - Jordin wins. Yawn.

2007-05-23T20:44:00.000-05:00

You'll notice that I'm not blogging the entire finale. Just. Too. Much. I'll announce the winner, though. I anticipate it will be Jordin.

High points so far - Kelly Clarkson. GREAT song. Dig her.

TAYLOR HICKS!! Absolutely my favorite American Idol! GREAT performance.

Thought the Sgt. Pepper thing was weird. Taylor's part was pretty cool. Carrie wins the award for absolutely the best looking American Idol. The BEE AAH TTLES medly was nice. They're running WAY over time, though. It's 10pm and no winner yet.

And the winner IS...

JORDIN SPARKS

Top 2 - E.g., The FINALS!!

2007-05-22T19:20:00.000-05:00

All RIGHT. I can't profess to being too excited. Melinda was my girl and I'm deeply unhappy that she was booted last week. But I've stuck with the show this long so I'm seeing it through. They just showed the Kodak - if you look WAY into the toppiest topmost balcony, that's where I sat for last year's final competition between Kat an Taylor. MAN was THAT vibe different. Anyone have any news on whether Taylor is performing this year??

Ryan talks about the Kodak being packed (duh). It's the "Battle of the Sexes" version of American Idol, apparently. We hang with the judges, who are dressed up. Randy's outfit is weird. Paula's hair is weird. Simon looks good in a suit-sans-tie. I also dig Ryan's suit. Paula broke her nose? Does that explain why her face looks weird? WAY weird. She tripped over her dog. Ryan says "so the bitch is OK". Oooh. So much for family-friendly. More after the click! Click it!

The songwriting contest winners came out of Seattle which is where, ironically, both Blake and Jordin auditioned. Newsflash: it was raining in Seattle during the auditions. We flash back to the good, bad and ugly of Seattle auditions. We see the two of them in line for their very first auditions. They look WAY different now. It's actually a pretty nice retrospective. I don't know, folks - without hearing a note sung, I'm leaning Blake. I'm not a Jordin-hater. But I do respect Blake's risky choices. Exsqueeze me? Baking powder? Did Ryan just say Jordin's "consistent performances" got her where she is today? My ass. She ranged from ear-bleedingly, off-keyedly horrid to brilliant with nary a gasp in between. I thought she sucked way more than she rocked.

With that, we're to the first commercial.

And we're back. We have a new Jordin/Blake coin thingy to choose who sings first or second. Blake unwisely chose to go first. Hm. This all happened last week. We're back live at the Kodak. They have three songs tonight - their favorite, something they did before, and the winning songwriting song (they each do this).

Blake Lewis starts with You Give Love a Bad Name. He starts off beat-boxing. This was not, I thought, one of his better performances, but it wasn't a bad one either. The drummer is on stage with him. He starts out and stays in tune. The arrangement of this song is growing on me. He's shouting a little in the chorus and pulling just ever-so-slightly flat. It's minor, but it's there. There's a LOT of beat-boxing in this tune. Not as much singing. But it's a good overall performance - nothing socks-knockingly wonderful, and his mic technique is causing his voice to fade in an out. Overall, just ok. Not great, not bad.

Randy: 10 out of 10 on beat boxing. Singing just ok.

Paula: She thinks Blake outdid himself. She gives him a 10+. She must have broken her ears, not her nose.

Simon: Not the best singer, but definitely the best performance. The singing was a bit flat and he was shouting, but he doesn't think it matters. It was his best performance three or four weeks ago and he was right to do it again.

He's with Ryan. They review the reviews. 1-866-IDOLS01 or 03 or 05 or text to 5701.

Jordin Sparks is doing Christina Aguilera's Fighter (a new song). She starts out stalking around. I don't think I know this song. It's rocky R&B. She starts out quite strong. She goes to a bit of shouting but the chorus comes back down to where she can actually sing an not scream. The song itself is pretty frenetic. I have no concept of how popular it might be. The second chorus is very high and she's doing the shouty thing again and it sounds a bit out of control. I think this song is WAY harder than Blake's first one was, but it honestly hurts to listen to Jordin sometimes. From a singing perspective, though, better than Blake, but he edges her with a decent vocal and a better performance. Round 1 Blake.

Randy: He found it a very interesting choice tonight. He thinks it's the great entertainer against the great singer (what - Melinda's here?).

Paula: Best. Finale. Ever. She was stellar.

Simon: He likes the choice of a younger song. He thought the vocals were shrieky in the middle (I agree) and he calls round 1 to Blake. Interesting.

Randy gives performance to Blake and vocals to Jordin. 1-866-IDOLS02 or 04 or 06 for Jordin or text to 5702.

Commercial time.

And we're BACK. We get a little Blake retrospective. He wanted drums as a kid. He never got them. So he beat boxed. His father and he resemble each other. Blake will be doing Maroon 5's She Will Be Loved for his second song. We haven't heard that before. It's a more subdued, seated Blake this time around. He sounds good in the first verse. I think anything Maroon 5 suits his voice. He's generally in tune, but we're going to the chorus. He cops a falsetto for the chorus, and it's passable. He's kind of pinching it, frankly - tightening his throat so that although he hits the note, it sounds shrill in the falsetto. He's through the bridge and back to the verse. It was pretty good. Back to the second chorus - same complaint with the falsetto. But this WAS a good SINGING performance for Blake.

Randy: Great song, very nice vocal. Very nice.

Paula: Really got into the ease of the song. He was relaxed.

Simon: It was good, it was safe - it wasn't as good as the first performance and he wouldn't have chosen that song in the final because he doesn't think it makes that much of an impact. Hm. I do think it's wildly popular.

Ryan's with Blake. 1-866-IDOLS01 or 03 or 05 or text to 5701.

Another commercial break.

Now we get the Jordin retrospective. We see her singing at 12 in braces. We meet her parents. We learn this is her dream. She's be singing Martina McBride's A Broken Wing. This was, for me, the strongest performance she had this season. I also think it was long enough ago that it's a good choice. You know something I like about Jordin? She's quite modest in what she chooses to wear. It's refreshing. She's doing the song well. She's in tune through the first verse and chorus, but she IS trending shouty in the chorus. I think it's just what she does. It does hurt, but at least she's in tune. Overall very good.

Randy: He loved her since day 1. He believes she's the most talented 17 year old singer he's seen. He loved it.

Paula: Thought she sang it great. Excellent.

Simon: "Now THAT was good."

She's with Ryan. 1-866-IDOLS02 or 04 or 06 for Jordin or text to 5702.

Gotta give Round 2 to Jordin.

We're back after commercial for the final performances from each. We meet the songwriters who won the songwriting competition. They look very - normal. Their song is This Is My Now.

Blake starts out seated on the big hayuge diamond vision screen. Of course, we don't know this song. The beginning is pretty Disney Films for me. The first verse is good vocally - not too challenging. We're in the chorus, and honestly, I think it sounds like every other schlocky AI inaugural song. That's not Blake's fault. But his vocal is REALLY REALLY off in parts of this song. It's like he got lost in the band. This song SO doesn't suit him. I wonder if he puked when he heard it. Honestly - I like Blake - but I want him to stop singing this song. This vocal is not good. Not a good way to end it. The song gets an F and Blake's vocal barely a C.

Randy: Randy knows it doesn't suit him. He thought it was all right but not great.

Paula: She thought he did a great job.

Simon: He thought it was all a little odd. He thought Blake looked frustrated. He thinks we have to judge Blake primarily on the first two performances.

Honestly. Blake looked like someone killed his dog and I would have to agree - he got screwed by that song. Highly unfair. It's like someone giving me a Reba McIntyre tune to sing (which I hate) and then basing my whole career on just IT. Poor Blake. 1-866-IDOLS01 or 03 or 05 or text to 5701.

OMG. I have to listen to that awful song again. Jordin is doing This Is My Now this time around. She's clearly changed the key and this clearly suits her more so than it suited Blake. She's shaky to me at the beginning, though. She's screaming her way through what passes for the chorus. Vocally it's better than Blake's version, but I can't say it's great by any means. This plays right into her screaming propensity. She hits a super power note at the end, though - TOTAL money note, and then screams a higher than high note. Ack. She looks pretty though, and starts to cry at the end of the song, which really annoys me. Round 3 Jordin, but I'll vote for Blake.

Randy: He thinks it's great. It's about her and finding the superstar.

Paula: Paula cries. For some reason Jordin's parents are wonderful to Paula. Jordin should be proud.

Simon: Last week Simon didn't think she was good enough to make the finals but he was wrong. She wiped the floor with Blake on that song.

She's with Ryan. 1-866-IDOLS02 or 04 or 06 for Jordin or text to 5702.

Ryan talks about how we can GET THAT SONG at American Idol.com. Personally I want to ram a spiked shoe through the eyeballs of the guys who wrote it. So I don't think I"m buying it.

Jordin sang better than Blake. But yawn to Jordin. Blake performed better than Jordin. But that last song - my God. But because they hosed him so totally, I'll throw votes his way.

There WILL Be a Finale Recap Tonight.

2007-05-22T18:08:00.000-05:00

I'll be able to start at about 8:30ish EST. Last one!! (thank goodness!!)

Sorry sorry sorry

2007-05-15T20:10:00.000-05:00

I've just gotten home. And in about eight hours I need to be in an airport boarding a plane. I'm so sorry - I won't get to the recap until probably Friday, which will be moot, but I'll do it for posterity's sake. :-(

Ok - even though I've been critical of this season I'm still a junkie and so I'm packing up my laptop case and watching JUST the performances. Generally, here's where I rank them for the night:

Melinda Doolittle
Jordin Sparks
Blake Lewis

The distance between Melinda and Jordin is respectable. The distance between Jordin and Blake is HUGE.

Low point: Blake singing Roxanne. Major pitch and timing problems.

High point: Melinda singing Nutbush. DAYAM.

Quickie recap:

JORDIN
Wishing on a Star - Overall very good vocally.
She Works Hard - Screechy, a bit imprecise.
I Who Have Nothing - Another great song for Jordin, I think her best of the night.

BLAKE
Roxanne - Worst song of the night. Out of tune and time.
This Love - Great choice for Blake and performed very well.
Robin Thicke Tune - Didn't know it, but liked it as much as the second song.

MELINDA
I Believe - Very very good. Vocally wonderful.
Nutbush - Performance of the night. Showed personality and range and edge.
I'm a Woman - Loved it, and it showed her range as an artist.

Jordin's numbers: 1-866-IDOLS01, 04, 07 or text to 5701

Blake's numbers: 1-866-IDOLS02, 05, 08 or text to 5702

Melinda's numbers: 1-866-IDOLS03, 06, 09 or text to 5703

Top 4 - Results

2007-05-09T20:01:00.000-05:00

Am I a bad person if I'm supremely bummed out that this is an hour-long show? Good grief. At least I had the good sense to start watching at 9:18 EST so that I can catch up by fast-forwarding through the commercials using my nifty DVR.

Imagine... being cut when you're THIS CLOSE. Yawn. The four are sitting there on one couch. Barry Gibb will perform live. Pink is on the show tonight. The judges are there, too. Shocker. Simon and Paula have switched places and Paula massaged her nipples, pretending to be Simon. Yawn. Ryan wants to know if tonight will be a shocker - Randy doesn't know. Paula thinks having two songs helped some of them, which, by omission, means that for some it didn't. Ryan then kisses Simon's butt a bit and while I'm sure it was intended to be cute, it wasn't.

We are now the recap-the-performances portion of the show so I'll pause and add tags. Follow me over the click for the rest of the results show recap with ... Results!!

Ok - so what is it with Randy referring to every song as a "joint"? I find it annoying. Perhaps I'm just in a bad mood. Hearing Jordin literally SCREAM off-key notes in the recap of her second song isn't helping elevate that mood, either. I hate also that they seem to harsh on Melinda for the sake of pimping Jordin, whose second song last night was literally unforgivable. I'm rambling - sorry.

We're back in the Farmer's Market, getting "America's Take" on the performances. Only... we're initially getting a review of Barry Gibb. He is praised as an all-around nice guy. Now the Jordin-love starts with the Farmer's Market people. Oh good - now we're in some Melinda pimpage. And then Blake is the first one slammed when asked "who screwed up last night?" One guy votes for Paula. Now we get a Lakisha lover on the air, and then another! Whew. So much fun for one 8-minute period. How can I stand it? We're to our first commercial break.

And we're back! And we're pimping the American Idols Live tour! I went last year, only because of Taylor. I find it laughable that they said it's your "chance to see the Idols up close and personal". I saw it at the MCI Center and they were like specks on stage. I thought the whole thing was beyond hokey. Taylor was the only high point and I had to sit through way too much schmaltz to get that. But that's me. Funny that they're pimping Sanjaya so much.

And now to Pink, which I will fast-forward through. Sorry - I can't handle these random performances. After that and a commercial break, we're back with the Ford Commercial. Is it me, or are the commercials not as good this season as they were last year? This week's is set to You Really Got Me. NOT a song that lends itself to a group sing. ((sigh)) We're off to the American Idol question. The answer is B. You can text the correct answer, B, to 51555 or go to www.americanidol.com and vote for free. The answer is B.

Ryan's back with the judges, and they're mumbling. Now the Top 4 will do a Tribute to Barry Gibb. Oh man - the entire first part of that verse Melinda's mic wasn't on! You could hear her, but only through the stage monitor system. It keeps fading in and fading out. I typically HATE these group sings, but the harmonies in this one are pretty nice. Jordin steps forward. She gets a lot less screaming than I thought she would... hm. Now it's Lakisha, with the like "I don't wanna hear your goodbye..." Prophetic? Foreshadowey??! Now it's Blake's turn, sort of. He steps forward, but it's not really a solo - oh wait - it is. Another obscure song for Blake. Huh. And with that, it's over. HEY - BILL MAHER IS THERE!! Cool. I love Bill Maher. Commercial time again.

Ryan returns, seated, with the Idols. Lakisha talks about the prospect of going home: she hopes she won't cry or forget the words if she does. Jordin perkily talks about the challenges of doing two songs. Blake talks about getting slammed by Simon. Lakisha talks about why she was uncomfortable last night - she had on the wrong clothes and there was a key change and stuff. He talks to Melinda about the judges wanting her to stand out more. Her goal was to be consistent, so it was a wake-up call because she realized she has to bring more to it.

Now we bore me further with a clip (vignette?) of the Idols' trip to see the Fantastic Four. And of course, the Fantastic Four themselves are in the studio. I don't get the Jessica Alba thing. She's cute, but i don't get the Jessica love. Heh - we learn Ryan likes blondes. Now we learn more about the Idols themselves.

Melinda is an only child. So is Blake and so is Lakisha. Melinda and Lakisha came from single mom households. Jordin's family is normal. Lakisha had a nappy fro as a baby. Melinda mastered the puffy "afro puff". Jordin couldn't pay attention. Blake was kicked out of choir for being rowdy. Melinda never ruffled feathers. Blake's parents have supported him. Jordin just has a singing gift - no one in her family can sing. Lakisha has been through a lot. Melinda dreams big. Blake can't believe he's there. Jordin can't either.

Now - the results. After the break. They come back and all four are literally huddled together on the stage. They won't unhuddle. They review each of the judges' comments. First Lakisha then Melinda. Next Blake and then Jordin - just like the order.

Jordin - SAFE

JESUS CHRIST ON A CRUTCH. Now we stop and go to the Barry Gibb thing. But before that, they're looking for the best undiscovered band in America?? Huh? What will the band do? NOW Barry Gibb. He was good. Another commercial.

All right. Three on stage - Melinda, Blake and Lakisha. Jordin is already seated. Melinda is SAFE - so much for my bottom two prediction. I'm happy to be wrong!!

Melinda - SAFE

Lakisha and Blake are left on stage. Randy doesn't know how it will go. Simon doesn't know, but he'll guess - he thinks Lakisha's going to go home. Paula blathers some crap and almost starts to cry when asked to give advice to the two of them. Over 45 million votes.

Blake - SAFE
Lakisha - VOTED OFF

I was right on that prediction. We see her journey - I'd never seen her initial audition. She had a ton of cornrows! It's sad to watch the voted off Idol watch their exit tape. Aww. :-( I'm not happy about this one, but I'm not surprised, either. She's crying, poor thing, and so is everyone else. Lakisha sings them out, and I'll see everyone next week!

Top 4 - Predictions

2007-05-09T18:48:00.000-05:00

I'll do this quickly.

Who should be in the bottom two:

Jordin
Blake

Who will be in the bottom two:

Lakisha
Melinda

Who should be going home:

Jordin

Who will be going home:

Lakisha

Top 4 Perform!

2007-05-08T18:57:00.000-05:00

I've been working hard all day, and have not had dinner. I MUST go get some food, eat it, and then blog. I won't be too late, but I'll be late. --36 minute interlude -- All right! I'm fed and I'm back and ready to blog.

36 million Americans are deciding their fate! Three girls and only one guy!! Only two weeks left until the Finale!! WHO WILL IT BE??! And with that, we begin. You'd think a cure for cancer or world peace was on the table from the introduction. I see Taylor's still safely back in the electronic intro. Check. Ryan takes the stage. He's unshaven again - it must be because of the pressure he references. Paula looks quite put together and Simon's wearing white. The word's on it's head. Tonight is Barry Gibb night, and the Idols will have TWO songs tonight. Digression: In seventh grade I was CERTAIN I'd lose my virginity to Barry Gibb. How embarrassing, and now the blogging world knows. Follow over the click for the rest of the live recap!

We do the honorific to the very Barry Gibb. He bought Johnny Cash's house in the hills of (I think) Tennessee - the house burned to the ground a week ago or so. Now the Idols are with the very Barry. He still has his hair, he blissfully hasn't altered his face, and I think he looks great. I dig the gray hair. He thinks the Idols sound great together. They'll be doing ONLY BeeGee's tunes. I would love to know who's doing How Can You Mend... blah blah.

Melinda Doolittleis up first. She chose Love You Inside Out. Barry was confused at first, because it was all done in falsetto originally. Even in rehearsal she sounds great, and the very Barry admits that it worked for him. Now here's Melinda. I love the top but I don't like the jeans so much. She sounds great. The song is totally identifiable and even though she brings something different to it, she is doing grat. She's definitely not singing it in falsetto. She gets to improvise in the second chorus, and I have to say - she's owning this. You could hear her recording this song today. A!

Randy: He thinks it will be an interesting night. It was a solid performance - it was good. He wasn't jumping up and down.

Paula: It's hard to critique her because she's always vocally so good. It's consistent.

Simon: He thinks he wants incredible, and it wasn't incredible. He thought it was more of a backing vocalist performance. (???) He thinks she's better than that.

Melinda's with Ryan. 1-866-IDOLS01 or 05 or text to 5701. We're at commercial.

And we're back! Ryan's futzing with the judges. Haley's in the audience (bleah). Randy pimps AT&T/Cingular. And we're off to Blake Lewis. He chose You Should Be Dancing. OMG - it sounds like he's going to sing it all in falsetto. The very Barry thinks his beat boxing suits the song, and he digs it. So here we are. The vocal starts rough right of the gate but he corrects and gets back on key. He's dancing around. He beat boxes. I can't distinguish his voice from that of the background singers in the falsetto parts of the course. The second verse is better - it's in key. He beat boxes through the horn parts and then does vocal scratching and it is pretty good - just not actual singing. He's back to the third chorus, and I still can't tell him from the background vocalists. Not great. B-.

Randy: Tonight the beat boxing didn't work for him. It made it corny for him.

Paula: She thought it started shaky - pitch was off - but the beat boxing shows true musicianship but it wasn't his best night.

Simon: He'll give Blake unique, but he thought it was absolutely terrible, that performance.

1-866-IDOLS02 or 06 or text to 5702. Gotta say - I don't know how you can compare Blake's performance to Melinda's before them. They're worlds apart.

We run right to Lakisha Jones. The very Barry tells us she chose Stayin' Alive. From her rehearsal, it sounds like she's slowing it down. He thinks it's difficult for a girl to do something a guy did in a high falsetto, but he likes what she does with it. We open and Lakisha struts out. I like the look better this week. Her vocal is strong out of the gate. She takes the first chorus in a lower middle register. I hear one tiny pitch issue but otherwise it's good. She's in the second verse. This is technically a difficult song to perform. She goes for a power note and then improvises and back to the well-known chorus. I keep waiting for her to totally break it loose but she doesn't. It was good, though. A-.

Randy: It was weird for him. These songs don't need to be changed, and it didn't work for him. She tried to do too much with it.

Paula: She felt taking the tempo down kind of brought the audience down.

Simon: No kiss from Simon tonight. He's sorry, but she's back to the shouting again. It was verging on scary in parts, so the second song has to be better.

1-866-IDOLS03 or 07 or text to 5703.

Ah. Not only is Jordin Sparks in the pimp spot, but she gets a viewer question. Sheesh. Q: What have you learned about yourself? A: That she can handle a lot more than she thought she could. We learn her grades are good. She's singing To Love Somebody. Among my FAVORITE BeeGee's tune. The very Barry LOVED her. She starts out. Vocally she sounds good, but her expression doesn't match the song - this is mournful, not triumphant. That's a nit, but it's my nit and I'll pick it all I want. She gets just a shade pitchy in the lower parts but she's very good in the other parts. She's substantially less screamy until the very end - just one teeny shouty moment. Overall very good, but this is a gut-wrenching tune, and I didn't get that from her. A.

Randy: That was the best vocal so far in an overall rough night.

Paula: She thinks Jordin looks beautiful and it was the best vocal so far.

Simon: Best song choice, best performance so far.

It's time to re-annoint the annointed one, apparently. 1-866-IDOLS04 or 08 or text to 5704. I didn't like it better than Melinda's, though, but it was close. I just prefer the richness in Melinda's voice, I guess. Break time.

Melinda gets a viewer question. Q: What is the first tape or CD that she ever bought. A: It was a tape of Michael Jackson's Bad. Her second choice is my FAVORITE - How Can You Mend a Broken Heart. Barry's mad because she removed the word "lose" from the song!! I think it's funny, and he eventually agrees. She's changed to a dress. The first verse and chorus are solid. They sound good - no "Melinda Moment" yet, though. Her phrasing and interpretation is beautiful for a beautiful song, I will say. In the second chorus she starts with a Moment, but then it abruptly goes to a power closing. The only thing I will say I that it strays from the original substantially. I think it works, and it shows off her voice. Another solid performance - although the ending was a little show-bandy. A.

Randy: Much better. Great song, great vocal, great ending. Resident pro.

Paula: No doubt a beautiful vocal - reminds her of Stephanie Mills. She wants her to throw technique away and surprise her (then you get Jordin last week).

Simon: The second half of the song put her in the semi-finals.

1-866-IDOLS01 or 05, or text to 5701.

Blake's doing This Is Where I Came In and he loved it because he thought it was a great song. I don't know this song. He's beat boxing again, and he's making it contemporary. It wasn't a hit, but the very Barry thinks it has the ability to be one still. He vocal starts out good - in tune. It sounds reminiscent of Jamiroquai, only better than his performance of Virtual Insanity. It DOES sound contemporary to me, because I don't know the song. Vocally it's good, but poor Blake is nowhere near the ability of the remaining girls. He hits a few clunker notes past halfway, ut he goes to the chorus and recovers and he beat boxes a bit. Another bad note. Ugh. Overall just ok. B-.

Randy: Thought it was better, but not jumping up and down. He doesn't have to beat box on everything.

Paula: She thinks he's the contemporary rebel in the competition. She liked hearing him sing it. She said he was on key (!!!).

Simon: He thought the song was completely tuneless and he hasn't had a good night tonight. He can't say these have been good performances, and it was a weird choice of song.

1-866-IDOLS02 or 06 or text to 5702. Gotta say - I think his fan base will support him, but I don't think he picked UP votes tonight with either performance. The second song was way obscure, and I think that's risky.

And we're back. Is that JUDGE JUDY? Oh my God - it IS Judge Judy! How... odd. We meet Simon's mom but Judge Judy steals Simon's mom's intro. How... rude. We get the songwriting competition pimp. Lakisha is singing Run To Me for her second song. Another beautiful song. The very Barry references how she had to change the key in the song. She's n a dress and the girls are right there with her. She starts off fine - the verse is good. She goes to the chorus and it's good, but a little powerful for the intent of the song. She takes the lower harmony in the first chorus - strange. She's in the second verse, and she takes the key change right before the second chorus and she belts out a power note. She takes the whole chorus up and strong. It sounds good if it doesn't fit the song. Vocally I thought it was quite good, and I believed her. A.

Randy: Much better than the first - it was good.

Paula: She's still a champ.

Simon: Better than the first, still wasn't great - thinks she and Blake are vulnerable tonight.

1-866-IDOLS03 or 07 or text 5703.

Ok. We're with Jordin, closing the show. She's singing Woman In Love which Barbara Streisand sang. Her interpretation is different, and the very Barry thinks Jordin will be one of the greatest female recording artists ever. She starts out in an actual gown. The first verse is good - one kind of questionable note. It was good until she went right before the chorus which I thought was kind of borderline. In the chorus she hits the important notes, but I have to say, she drops off in pitch and precision in the non-power portions. And frankly, I think she's screaming the high notes. I really didn't enjoy that much - she struggled noticeably in parts. Just a B.

Randy: Not her best - pitchy all the way through.

Paula: Jordin is beautiful. It was not... (the best?)

Simon: He thought it was old-fashioned and very pageanty, although he loved the song.

1-866-IDOLS04 or 08 or text 5704. Honestly - while I didn't care for Blake's song that much, I think in the second round, Jordin was the worst. My biggest complaint about her all along is that she's totally inconsistent, and she proved it again tonight. First, quite wonderful - second, screamed and painful.

Here's where I rank them so far:

Round 1:

Melinda Doolittle
Jordin Sparks
Lakisha Jones
Blake Lewis

Round 2:

Melinda Doolittle
Lakisha Jones
Blake Lewis
Jordin Sparks

Leaving us with a final ranking of:

Melinda Doolittle
Lakisha Jones
Jordin Sparks
Blake Lewis

Honestly though - I don't know if the last song by Jordin hurt her more than my ranking reflected. Overall, for me, the night was just meh.

In Case You Missed It...

2007-05-03T14:51:00.000-05:00

I thought this performance of "Up To The Mountain" by Kelly Clarkson during Idol Gives Back was just STELLAR. The legendary Jeff Beck wasn't bad, either. ;-)

Top 6 - Results

2007-05-02T20:26:00.000-05:00

Hello readers. I am feeling pretty crappy. I think I'll probably skip the majority of the commentary (stop celebrating, will you? Have some respect) and just go to the SAFE/NOT SAFE tally. Then, I'm going to bed.

Wow - SHOCKER! The judges still look like... the judges! What's up with Ryan's hair? It's uncharacteristically flat. I'm kind of tired of the loving-Blake-fest. He took a risk and it was interesting, but dude - the vocals just weren't that spectacular. And I have to agree with Jimmy - regardless of the theme or the song, Blake always has a Spandau Ballet moment. We get the recaps - yawn. It's that they don't do it well, I'm just really tired. Yawn with me over the click for more recappery.

Must we be back at the Farmer's Market? Is that necessary? Ryan's jacket is really awful. I thought it was funny that the random people busted on Jordin HARD. She's a sweet girl, but the last two weeks were painfully bad, regardless of what the judges say. That's why it's funny that she's talking now about "having her bad week" because frankly, I think she's had more than a few weeks that weren't very good. This Simon Lakisha thing is disturbing.

OMG. Reuben Studdard. He's pimping Idol Gives Back! I find that really... odd.

I did NOT like Robin Thicke. Was that a joke?

Ah... Ford commercial time. It's kind of creepy. They let Blake be the uber-creepy dude instead of Phil, though. Results time.

Melinda
Phil
Lakisha

All standing at center stage. Melinda's first and she's SAFE. Phil and Lakisha stand there now. Phil and Lakisha get their reviews. Lakisha is SAFE. PHIL is going HOME. That's so wrong. He was without question the best male voice in the competition this year. Phil also seems to be a genuinely nice person. I'd have lost Jordin in a heartbeat over Phil.

I'm so pissed off I'm skipping the rest of the show and heading to the remainder of the results (I DVRd it). Wait - pause rewind - that was Taylor!! I'm glad to see him pimp IGB, and he was sincere when he spoke. I miss Taylor and last season!

So apparently Jordin's safe and I missed it while fast-forwarding. Dunno - sure wish she was gone and not Phil. At any rate, that leaves Blake and Phil. They are dragged to center stage, and we learn they are BEST FRIENDS (BFF BABEEE!). Blake and Chris are giggling with each other as they get their recaps. Blake is SAFE and Chris is going HOME. So I got one of the my two predictions right.

All right. I feel like poo, so goodnight, and I'll be posting some YouTube later in teh week.

Top 6 - Predictions

2007-05-02T18:57:00.000-05:00

I'm just a skosh under the weather today so this and the results show recap will be a bit brief.

For the bottom three, I'll put it at Phil, Chris, and Lakisha.

Who SHOULD go are Jordin and Chris.

Who WILL go are Chris and Lakisha.

See you for the results!

Top 6 Perform - But I'll be late with the recap.

2007-05-01T18:47:00.000-05:00

Well, my slavedriving husband nee bandleader is cracking the whip on rehearsals again tonight. I had hoped we would get through everything quickly, but no luck. So, recap willt be late but it will be tonight!

Ok. 9:30pm Eastern and I'm sitting down to watch. Here we go! It's six again this week, but we'll be eliminating two tomorrow night. Tonight is Bon Jovi night, and somehow since we're eliminating two, Ryan states that the pressure is doubled (not sure I get the math on that). AH - Taylor is BACK in the AI intro (he was gone for at least a week, hat tip to MJ's readers for catching that). We see Gina Glocksen in the audience. Ryan forgot to fall onto a razor today. Last week raised almost $70M. We re-meet the judges for the upteenth time. Simon's sporting a tan. Follow me over the click for the rest of the recap.

We get the Bon Jovi tribute package. Wow - did they have some HAIR in the 80s! I had hair like that at one point. Gotta say - I like John better with the flatter hair. The Idols meet John and his keyboard dude, and we learn his kids love American Idol. John thinks the singers have to bring a sincerity in their delivery - they have to make it their own. John looks good, by the way. Better looking as he gets older, no doubt.

Phil Stacey is in the bad first slot. He'll sing Blaze of Glory. Probably a good choice - John was knocked out by him. Phil starts out in the audience. No hat tonight, but his jacket is WAY cool. He starts out flawlessly. His vocal is really really good. He looks comfortable - I think the performance aspect of this song, so far, is as good as the singing of it. And let me tell you - this is a TOUGH song to sing, male or female. I just hope the lyrics aren't prophetic! He gets a solid A.

Randy: He's happy for Phil. It was his best performance ever on the show. It was the bomb.

Paula: Best opening they've had all season long.

Simon: He thought it was ok (lots of booing). He didn't hear authenticity - in the middle he thought he was like a bad actor playing a role. He doesn't think he's done enough to last next week.

I'm not feeling Simon here. I thought it was absolutely magnificent. 1-866-IDOLS01 or 07 or text 5701.

Commercial, then Jordin.

Back - we see Gina. Jordin Sparks is nervous meeting John Bon Jovi. She's singing Living on a Prayer - we think that perhaps John's not all that sold on Jordin. Hm. He's finding other notes for her, and that's a good idea. She has to sound good with whatever she does. Jordin's got rocker hair tonight. She's on stage with two low-slung guitar players. She has some fun red streaks in her hair. I thought the first verse was ok - I'm not sure I like the changes. She's doing what she does, though - she's pulling just flat on some of the notes in the lower register. She's much better in the chorus, I'll say that absolutely. She performs this well with the other two dudes on stage - she works them well. But again - she pulls flat and it makes me crazy. She took a key change and now she's screaming the chorus. Overall, I'm completely underwhelmed by this. C.

Randy: This was interesting for him - he knows it was tough for her. The verses were rough, he said. She agrees. It wasn't her best.

Paula: She gives credit because Jordin went for it.

Simon: He didn't like the look (but Randy did). He thought the singing was out of control, verging on shrieking at times (finally, Simon gives her a fair review). It was "terrible" he says. I agree.

Jordin was nervous about rock week. She's glad she was here for it. 1-866-IDOLS02 or 08 or text to 5702.

Back from commercial, and we're getting ready for Lakisha Jones. She makes a joke about the camera getting her "slim side". Hah. She gets a question about what kind of training she had - none. She learned in church. She is now with John, and she admits she's never listened to him. She's singing This Ain't a Love Song. John explains the sentiment to her. John really liked her. She starts out behind the mic stand. I don't know this song, and I have to say - this look she's got is not the best for her. The verse goes really really low but she handles it better (e.g., in tune) than Jordin. I think the chorus undersells her natural ability but she's in tune and she seems more engaged from a performance perspective this week. She takes a key change and she gets to go to a power note, and one that fits with the song. Overall, I thought this was very good. A-.

Randy: He thinks she's back this week. He thought the start was a bit rough, but she sold him midway through to the end.

Paula: She thought it was good.

Simon: He could actually kiss her after that (and she comes down and gets a kiss on the lips from Simon! Ha!). "You were so good", he tells her. She rose to the challenge and absolutely nailed it. And Simon likes her lips (oooh - little creepy eyeplay there).

I liked her, but I liked Phil better. 1-866-IDOLS03 or 09 or text to 5703.

Back from commercial, and Ryan's with the judges. Blake Lewis is up next, singing You Give Love a Bad Name. He's with John, who thinks Blaks is doing "an adventurous rendition". John tells the camera that Blake has to sell a version of a song that a lot of people know and "don't want messed with" (people, John? Or you?). Blake knows he's taking a risk on it. John's not sold - he thinks Blake is rolling the dice. Blake dyed his hair, and he starts off best boxing. The percussionist is on stage with Blake. He's definitely changed the feel of the song. He beat boxes in this one. His vocal is ok - it's a little flat in spots. He plays the chorus pretty straight and true to the original. Now we're into the beat-boxing/percussion call-response. I actually kind of liked that. It's not singing, but he's smart - because this genre and Bon Jovi's song do NOT suit his voice and never will. He gets a B+ (gotta knock him down on the vocal - it was only ok) for knowing his strengths and weaknesses and giving a performance that maximized the former and minimized the latter.

Randy: Blake gets the award for the most original version. He thought it was hot.

Paula: She acknowledges the risk - she thought it was amazing.

Simon: He thinks half of the people hated it and half loved it - he thought it was the right thing to do.

1-866-IDOLS04 or 10 or text to 5704.

Ugh. We're back with Chris Richardson. I can hear the nasal now on those high notes - ugh. Chris doesn't like being called "Justin Timberlake" by Ryan. He gets a viewer question - what does he do before he walks out on the stage? Just have fun. Chris is doing Dead or Alive. I can tell from the rehearsal that I'm going to hate it. Chris didn't know the words in rehearsal and he was appropriately contrite. Chris starts out. The very beginning of the first verse is is decent. I think this is REALLY high, frankly, and he's pulling just flat on the highest notes. I don't like his phrasing and interpretation, but so far it's not nasal. This is a ballsy song for him to do, because even he mentioned Chris Daughtry doing it last season, and he is not nearly as good as Chris D. was. But he's not hideously awful and he's pretty much sticking to the original version. He's shouty at the end, and he does NOT find the "blues" note Jon BJ referenced, but I liked him slightly better than Jordin this week. Only slightly. B-

Randy: He thought Chris did his thing. He liked it.

Paula: She liked it, too. Good job, she says.

Simon: He thinks Chris did as much as he could possibly do with the song, but he's not sure if Chris will survive another week.

1-866-IDOLS05 or 11 or text to 5705.

And we close the show with a pro talking to pro. Melinda Doolittle is with John. She admits right out that she's bad at rock. John says he can teach her. She's singing Have a Nice Day. John knew Melinda would bring soul to the song - he said she nailed it. She's on stage with another low-slung guitar player. She starts out and I have to say - she's discovered her edge in this first verse. She sounds a little reminiscent of Tina Turner at the beginning. She's got TONS of attitude during this song and it fits the song perfectly. Need I say that her vocal is absolutely perfect? Not a bad note yet in the competition. This song, again, is not different but I really admire the way she brought rock to herself so she could credibly pull this off. She gets, again, an A.

Randy: Great performance again.

Paula: She loved it.

Simon: He thought it was like a young Tina Turner and vocally it was in a different league than everyone else tonight (duh).

1-866-IDOLS06 or 12 or text 5706.

OMG. MUST I have my American Idol experience ruined by an address from George Bush, a man who has done NOTHING to honor his commitments made at the G-8 summit to end extreme poverty in Africa? What a hypocrite. Ooops - did I say that out loud?

Here are my final rankings:

Melinda Doolittle
Phil Stacey
Lakisha Jones
Blake Lewis
Chris Richardson
Jordin Sparks

Let me say - I thought Melinda, Phil and Lakisha were WAY better vocally than anyone else tonight. Blake gets pulled up from where his vocal should have put him by his creativity and performance skills. Chris did better than I thought he would, though it's still substantially below the other four imo. And Jordin? I don't get it. Last week, I thought, was flat through the verse and screamed in the chorus. This week was flat in the verse, shrieky in the chorus, and totally uncontrolled. She had a GREAT night during country week - but she is WAY oversold by the judges as far as I'm concerned. Just my $.02, and it's my blog, so I can say what I want. ;-) See you tomorrow for predictions and results, and thanks for reading!

Top 6 - Results

2007-04-25T19:14:00.000-05:00

Hellloooo! I'm not going to recap every iota and nuance of the Results Show tonight. As we all know, tonight is the Idol Gives Back marathon-telethon-etc. chock full of stars and performances. I'm only going to recap the actual results. So with that said, let's get going!

For fun, I'd like to take just a moment and talk about my traffic to this blog. I have quite a few loyal returning visitors (THANK YOU!). In my site traffic reports, I can see they get here without clicking from another location. MJ's Big Blog refers a lot of people as well (THANK YOU, TOO!). But sometimes people have done a Google or web search and have found my blog. Here are a few of the recent search phrases that got them here:

- "handicapping who will get voted off idol next"
- "song you will never walk alone again-jordin sparks"
- "Season 6 Haley Scarnato Photo boob"
- "Predictions american idol who's going home top 6 season 6"

So many paths to one location... And at least one goes through Haley's 'boob'. ;-) Follow me over the click for random comments and results.

OMG. "Most Shocking Result In Our History"??? WTF? If it's Melinda I think I'll run into the streets screaming.

Celebrity/Star Performance Tally:

Ellen Degeneres
Earth Wind & Fire
Quincy Jones
Ben Stiller
Teri Hatcher
Forest Whitaker

Whoop. Ryan's queued up with the six on the couches. First is Melinda - She's safe. Melinda's ouster would have been the only thing that would have shocked me, so I guess I won't be shocked.

Back to the cavalcade of stars and celebrities:

Il Divo
Dr. Phil
Dr. House (sorry - don't know his name)

Wow. They're pimping a $50 donation from an audience member to come up on stage and introduce an act. Yet they pull the seat # for Jack Black. Stage things much? Cute though. I bet he can actually singing when he isn't lampooning. He doesn't sound bad, and he's interesting at least! I also like that he referred to his "stones". First time EVER on AI, AND Sanjaya gets smacked (poor Sanjaya!!) So continuing the celeb tally:

Jack Black
Seal

Ryan's heading back over to the Idols. We know Melinda is safe. Blake's up now. Blake is safe. So apparently we're picking them off one at a time. And is it my imagination or do they have FEWER commercials tonight than ever before? Back to the star tally:

Carrie Underwood

Her piece was heartbreaking. More stars:

Rascal Flatts
Tom Anderson (MySpace Founder)

There's my new favorite commercial again - http://www.one.org. One of THE best charities in existence. It stays out of politics and manages only to try to relieve extreme poverty by securing commitments from world and business leaders and by raising money and awareness. We're on to the celebrity "Staying Alive". I like it! Funny. I can't say I can name all the stars, though.

More results - the SHOCKING results. Phil is up - he's SAFE. That leaves Lakisha, Jordin and Chris and we'll get to them later.

WOW - Ellen Degeneres just donated $100K. More stars:

Josh Groban
The African Children's Choir
Kelly Clarkson

Just for the record - so far tonight, Kelly Clarkson's performance was hands down magnificent. Back to the stars:

The Simpsons

Back to the results. We have three left without a verdict - Jordin, Chris and Lakisha. Lakisha stands - she's safe. That leaves Chris R. and Jordin. Remember - they said it was random order. More celebs:

Celine Dion
Elvis Presley (this is a little weird)
Madonna (who is in Malawi - one of the most horribly poverty-stricken countries in Africa)
Annie Lennox

Final results - Chris and Jordin stand. Over 70 million votes came in. Chris is safe. Jordin is also safe. They are all safe. This week's votes will be added to NEXT WEEK'S votes and they will send home TWO next week. Cool! I'm happy with that.

Meaningful things to remember from tonight:

Every 3 seconds a child dies in extreme poverty.
Every 30 second a child in Africa is orphaned by AIDS.
How can a child die for want of $.50 worth of medicine?

Top 6 - Predictions

2007-04-25T18:36:00.000-05:00

Ok. Since there are only six left, I'm going to go from a bottom three prediction to a bottom two prediction. Zabasearch (which accurately predicted The Daughtry's ouster last season) is back in swing and they say it's Phil tonight, joined by Chris and Lakisha. Dial Idol has it MELINDA and Chris.

I think the bottom two will be:

Chris R.
Lakisha J.

And going home will be:

Chris R.

I really can't tell at this point - the season's been so incredibly screwy for me. But Chris appears at or near the bottom of BOTH Zaba and DI, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it. See you for the results recap!

Top 6 Perform - Back in the Saddle Edition

2007-04-24T18:54:00.000-05:00

Ok. I'm back this week, on time, and live-blogging. I missed last week's performances because I was at Taylor Hicks' show in Baltimore - TOTALLY worth it. If he's coming to your town, GO SEE HIM. The show is awesome.

I did finally get to see last week's performances - I watched them Thursday night. I thought Jordin was the best with Phil close behind. It goes without saying that Sanjaya was awful, but I want to know - what is UP with Lakisha? My mother describes her performances as "phoning it in". I made the comment that she looked like she was on tranquilizers these past few weeks. What gives? Thoughts? I thought Chris R. deserved to be in the bottom 3 more than Blake, but Jimmy, loyal watcher and reader of this blog, pointed out to me that he constantly sounds like the singer from Spandau Ballet. BINGO! That is exactly it. Let's hope he just sounds like Blake this week. Follow past the click for this week's recap!

So we're off! This week is the "special American Idol". Same three judges, same six finalists - but the calls for votes will save lives in Africa. Let me pump www.one.org here yet again as we launch into Idol Gives Back. So I guess that means tomorrow's results show is the extravaganza bonanza, right? Cool. I can get into that.

Ryan enters in another great suit and the crowd goes wild. We are reminded about Idol Gives Back. If we don't know what it is already, though, I don't know how we would get on board at this point. But hey - they're trying. They're pushing it - pushing the sponsors, pushing the money. Tomorrow's results show is 2 hours long, and it will function like an elimination telethon. Bono will be joining (newly added name). That's like a gold-standard blessing of the entire effort. We meet the judges. I haven't heard any more about the so-called "controversy" of Simon's comments after Chris Richardson sent a shout out to Virginia Tech. Thank God - what a tempest in a tespot that was. Now Ryan directs us to watch the footage of his and Simon's trip to Africa. We're pulling out the tearjerker footage this week - good. These people live in horrible, abject poverty. These children live in this hopeless environment. They are completely deserving of our compassion and should receive a whopping proportion of our generous nature. Not for nothing, I totally believe and buy Simon's outrage when he sees the conditions and refers to Africa as "hell on earth". I bet that was a quietly life-changing event for him.

Ok - back to the show. Each contestant will have TWO numbers that you can call. Chris Richardson is up first, singing Change the World by Eric Clapton. Lovely song - hope he doesn't sing it through his nose. Chris starts seated. The opening vocals are a little bit shaky for me. As he goes to the higher notes at the beginning he gets the nose thing, but some of his interpretation is quite lovely. He's in the chorus and I think he sounds flat. Not consistently flat, but noticeably flat in spot. He rises and does a run that distracts from the song (bummer). He dances around as he goes to the second chorus. Overall, I would say this performance is mediocre. We're in the final 6 - not good enough. C.

Randy: Randy loves this show to see who's in it to win it and he thought Chris was (???).

Paula: Chris did fantastic - great song choice. She's proud of him.

Simon: It feels that the competition starts properly tonight. It reminded Simon of the very first time they saw him - good vocal, more soul, sexy performance - he did really well.

I'm flabbergasted. I really didn't enjoy that. 1-866-IDOLS 01 or 07 and text 5701 (only one text number). There will be four hours to vote (did they tell the donors this??!! Heh.).

www.myspace.com/idolgivesback is the MySpace pimp for the charity week. We are returned to the poverty subject right here in the USA, the richest country in the civilized world. Yet some of these kids live in a form of poverty every bit as obscene as that we saw in Africa. Randy goes back to Louisiana and visits Katrina survivors. They also go to Kentucky, and the Navajo nation in Arizona. Ryan went to Atlanta to see the devastating effects of homelessness. Seen but ignored - obscene. Paula went to Oklahoma, and they've teamed with programs all over America. They pimp donations for these kids abroad and at home.

Melinda Doolittle is singing There Will Come a Day by Faith Hill. I don't know this song. Melinda starts off center stage. She seems to be feeling the words. She sounds great. It's obvious that she feels the meaning of this song - she conveys it through her performance. I like her look. They've softened her up. She takes the key change beautifully. She's a skilled pro - I hope that doesn't get her in the long run, because right now, she's absolutely the most deserving in the competition. She shows up EVERY WEEK and tonight is no different. She sounds perfect. She gets an A.

Randy: Every week he sees her she's dope and has it all together. He doesn't know waht to say anymore.

Paula: She thinks it must feel great to get the praise and love and critiques week after week. She's magical.

Simon: What he loved was that it wasn't a copycat performance. She took it and made him believe she recorded it originally. A vocal master class.

1-866-IDOLS 02 or 08, or text to 5702.

We're back. We're changing thousands of lives. The target is 50 million calls and they'll make $5 million off of just one sponsor. Excellent.

Blake Lewis gets to answer the viewer question. From Eric in VA - what's the biggest sacrifice he's had to make? A: He's missing is family and friends at home but he has their support being here. Blake's singing John Lennon's Imagine. I can hear that. I dig his hair this week. This is one of the most beautiful songs ever. Blake starts off softly - very appropriate. He's seated, almost reclining. He is singing the song straight so far and his vocal is the dominant sound on the stage. He transitions from verse one to two nicely. This song carries itself and Blake really seems to believe what he's singing. He goes to the bridge and so far I am really liking this performance. This isn't power-challenging like Melinda's song, but this song speaks for itself and Blake just owned it, imo. A.

Randy: Great choice of song. An amazing song. It was just ok for him performance-wise, though - wanted him to do more with it (NOT).

Paula: She talks about the beautiful simplicity of that song and she really loved it.

Simon: This is a tricky one because he chose one of THE big songs of all times and it's not a belter song. It felt sincere, but it didn't go anywhere, but he sang it with sincerity, so it was good.

1-866-IDOLS 03 or 09 or text to 5703. I thought it was lovely, if anyone's asking.

Ok. We're back from commercial and our votes are saving lives. iTunes and Ford will donate videos from tomorrow night's performances. You pay, they give the $$ to the needy. Cool. We're back with Ryan in Africa, and he's in a town where 1/3 of the children are malnourished. ONE THIRD. The children are orphans. They are at a feeding center that not only feeds them but helps them get into school so they can have a future. It costs FIFTY CENTS a day to feed these children three meals a day. That's about $15 a month, folks. Dig deep and do it.

Lakisha Jones is singing I Believe by Fantasia. Interesting choice. She's dressed beautifully and the girls are reasonably tucked away. I think the key sounded a little weird in the beginning - like she started one place and the music went another, but I can't tell if it was just the way the song goes. The verse was a little rough for me vocally but the chorus is much better. She's gesticulating a lot but honestly - it doesn't really reach her eyes or her face. While her vocal is very diva-great, I have to say this is one of my least favorite Lakisha tunes. It was weird for me pitch wise. B-.

Randy: Great song choice - a few pitch problems - not her best but he did like it.

Paula: No doubt that she's a powerhouse vocalist. She took on a monster song - and Paula can't get past Fantasia but it shouldn't take away from Lakisha's vocals.

Simon: He thinks Paula preferred the Fantasia version. It was very emotional - he's having an issue with the shouting. Before he thought that she was... (and we don't hear the rest).

1-866-IDOLS 04 or 10 or text to 5704.

Two left to perform, and Phil Stacey is one of them. He gets a viewer question: What do you miss most about home? A: He misses his two baby girls most, but he knows it will be all worth it. Phil's singing The Change by Garth Brooks. It had a profound effect on him. Interesting that he's doing country again, and probably smart. He starts stading next to a pianist that is on the stage. No hat tonight. The beginning of this song is very nice - I don't know the song - but I find it sweet. As with Melinda's performance and Blake's, I think Phil feels this song. You can see it all over his face. He vocal through the verse and chorus is nice. He's in the bridge now. He has to watch a bit of shoutiness, but it doesn't distract (at least I don't think so) - I'm just nitpicking. His vocal is lovely. I give him an A as well.

Randy: Back again this week with another strong performance.

Paula: She feels like he found his comfort - it was fantastic. His best.

Simon: Good song choice. The only thing he'd advise is that the country tone from last week suited his voice and he needs to connect that up to his performances. People like him.

1-866-IDOLS 05 or 11 or text to 5705.

We're back. And for the record, I REALLY loved that One.org commercial. We're back with just one left, and that's Jordin Sparks. But first we're going to see another pitch for the charities (which is good). Simon is at ConAgra and he's at a food bank. There are 50,000 food banks in the US. Simon states the obvious, yet it needs to be said: he had no idea there were places like this in the US. There are fifty people at the bank yet only four are paid - the rest are volunteers. And it's America's Second Harvest - another of my fvorite charities. www.americassecondharvest.org. They do wonderful work.

NOW we have Jordin Sparks, singing You'll Never Walk Alone. This is a beautiful song - a classic. Jordin looks beautiful and sophisticated. She's singing softly at the start and I have to say - there are a few tiny pitch problems through the softer parts in the first verse. She recovers nicely into the chorus and does some beautiful phrasing and intonation as she sings. She means this song - she looks like she's going to cry. My one criticism is that she shouts a lot of it. Love her generally, but not my favorite performance from her. A for sincerity, B for vocals.

Randy: One of the best vocals by any contestant every in six seasons (that's a huge stretch).

Paula: Picked a haunting song and she did a lovely job. She's glorious.

Simon: He thought she was fantastic (apparently she's the annointed one).

1-866-IDOLS 06 or 12 or text to 5706. Don't get me wrong - I thought it was a lovely performance and I truly believed she felt it. But the vocal was sporadic for me - pitchy in some spots and shouty in others.

Here is the final rankings on the night:

1. Melinda Doolittle
2. Phil Stacey
2. Blake Lewis
3. Jordin Sparks
4. Lakisha Jones
5. Chris Richardson

I'll think about it more tonight, but I would say my bottom two are the two I have listed here tonight. I'll make it official tomorrow.

Back In The Saddle - Top 7 - Results Show

2007-04-18T19:52:00.000-05:00

First, I have no predictions this week since I have simply not gotten around to watching last night's performances. If you read my "Sorry" post, you know I was at a Taylor Hicks concert at the Ram's Head Live! in Baltimore. What you DON'T know is that I was at the show the night before at the Birchnere in Alexandria. Both shows were awesome, and much to Taylor's credit, he changed it up so they weren't the absolute same. If it's coming to your town, get tickets. It's worth it. www.TaylorHicks.com has links to the tour. Go. Now.

I'm WAY tired. Notwithstanding the rush of the concert last night, I had a FULL day at work today. So I apologize in advance - my recap probably won't be stellar. :-) But follow over the click anyway to the rest. :-D

I see that now the Sanjaya strategy is to allude to him every time they talk about someone getting voted off. If only. Remember - I didn't see any of last night's show. I did, however, just check Dial Idol. They have Sanjaya LAST - that's the first time I've seen that on Dial Idol this season. Not that they're remotely right these days... But could it be?? Be still my heart. Maybe then, if Sanjaya is gone, I will cease this strange "I don't really care" behavior I've been exhibiting. Anyone who knew me from www.GrayCharles.com (may it rest in peace) know that I was BEYOND engaged last season.

OH NO - My DVR just went kaflooey and I lost the first 15 minutes of the show. I think. Hold on - No, I have it. I only appear to be missing 2 minutes. No biggie. So we're at the beginning of the Results Show. Ryan's in a suit again. The show is an hour long AGAIN. The judges are teh judges AGAIN. Oooh... I learn that Simon gave a "look" after Chris R.'s performance and they apparently argued?? Oh man. Something Simon did was interpreted as disrespecting the Virginia Tech people? I thought he just explained that VERY well and was the point at being emotional. Literally emotional - his voice broke. They are trying very hard to diffuse this. Probably a good thing to do, because they replayed it and showed Simon's audio. I think that cleared it up unequivocally.

We recap the performances which, this week ONLY, is beneficial for me since I haven't seen anything. I heard Phil was awesome, as was Jordin. I heard bad things about Lakisha from random Idol fans, frankly. I'm glad to hear Melinda did well. I don't understand Blake's sweater. And apparently Chris sang through his nose. Is anyone shocked? He ALWAYS (almost always) sings through his nose. Oh my God - Sanjaya dissed Bonnie Raitt by singing her - and Simon hated it and then jumped all over Ryan? Kewl.

Ah. The Kodak. Where I was for the final competition night between Taylor and Kat. This year, not so exciting, and I don't really care about these interviews. So I'm skipping them.

Oh man - and NOW I have to suffer through a group sing?? Agh. That little teeny piece Sanjaya sang didn't actually sound bad. Someone pointed out to me at the concert last night that Sanjaya was so good in auditions - and I agree - and that was the last time he was "so good". I never got the Chris R. appeal, by the way. I guess it's because I'm not a Justin Timberlake fan. And maybe because I think his head kind of looks like a tennis ball - fuzzy and round. Group sing is over. I survived, and if you're reading, so did you. Bravo.

I've skipped forward a bit. All the Idols who have hair are getting their hair done and they're talking about the CDs in their CD player. I'm underwhelmed, so I'm not going to list it. Now we go to Fergie's performance. I'll watch a little of it, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I wouldn't know her if she fell on me. Am I a bad person for that? Actually, I think I'll fast-forward. I'm just not that interested, though at the beginning of her song she sounds quite good vocally.

And we're back after Fergie and a commercial! Whee!! It's FORD COMMERCIAL TIME!! We seem to have a spy theme this week. They're almost all in sunglasses, kind of a poor man's Mission Impossible. Blake isn't wearing sunglasses - does that make him the good guy? And Sanjaya is the bad guy who takes the keys out of the secret briefcase. Huh. We get the Idol Gives Back update, and I think that's next week. I'm actually looking forward to it. If you have missed my plugging The One Campaign (www.one.org), now you haven't missed it. Go. Click. It's worthy. And the Idol Gives Back Night seems to have Gwen, EWT, Il Divo (hat-tip Simon Cowell), Clarkson, Lennox, Underwood, Helen Mirren, and "two of the biggest stars in musical history" (foreshadow foreshadow foreshadow).

Another commercial. ((sigh))

Back. Idols are lined up on stage. "7 places; 6 faces". They're splitting them into TWO groups - highest and lowest vote getters. I wonder if they'll make one pick a group? Brutal if so. Sanjaya is on the left of the screen. Phil is on the right of the screen. Jordin joins Phil. Lakisha joins Sanjaya (wow). Blake joins Lakisha and Sanjaya (Dial Idol's bottom three, FYI). Chris joins Phil's group. Melinda has to choose, apparently. They bring her to the center. They review each group's individual reviews. Highs and lows. Then they synopsize Melinda's performance. Melinda is SAFE we learn, but she's still center stage. And NOW they make her choose. Cruel!! She has to pick the group she thinks is safe!!! Mean. Melinda looks truly uncomfortable and literally sits down on the center of the stage. Smart. Nice move, well-received, cute and comfortable. Ryan now wants her to SLIDE over to Phil's group.

Bottom 3:
Lakisha
Sanjaya
Blake (shocker)

Those three come center-stage. Are Blake and Lakisha first-timers in the finals to the bottom 3? Randy thinks it's crazy Blake is there. Paula thinks something bland and indecisive. Simon is "beginning to sense something here" with an evil grin, whatever that means. Perhaps he's happy Sanjaya's finally there? Or that America is listening?

Commercial time.

We're back. The Top 7 went to DreamWorks to see Shred the 3rd getting made. The CEO of DreamWorks meets them (WAY rich dude, btw). DreamWorksDude (DWD) shows off his Oscars. DWD laments how he was much older than the Idols when he found his success. Some other dude shows the Shrek storyboard. It's kind of neat. Then they go to the recording booth to voice Princess Fiona. Guys voice Puss-n-Boots. Then... ANTONIO BANDERAS walks in. Pretty cool. He's the real voice of Puss-n-boots and he's impressed by Blake. Then the Idols leave and go to see the movie in a private screening. They loved it.

Antonio Banderas is in the crowd. I dig him, but does he wash his hair? Antonio Banderas voted seven times, one for each. They are all fantastic according to Antonio. I don't know about him anymore. Now to Martina McBride. I'll fast-forward through her as well - no disrespect, but I'm just not that interested.

Ah!! I've caught up with the DVR (fast-forwarded through the commercials after starting late) and now I'm back in synch with the actual show. Bummer.

6 minutes left in the show and still in commercials. Did I fast-forward through them sitting one of the three down? I'll figure that out in a moment I guess. And we're back - all three still there. Center stage. One of them's getting sent back - it's BLAKE LEWIS. Dial Idol had him second to last. Sanjaya and Lakisha stand there. We get a summary of their song and reviews. After the biggest top 7 vote in Idol history, SAJAYA is going home. Hallalujah!! Vegas must be losing its MIND. Simon must be peeing his PANTS.

Can I just say - I'm really glad he's gone. Not because I hate him, and not because he's not as good as any of the others. I really think that the whole Sanjaya thing helped turn Idol into a parody. It's a shame that this kid was so lampooned and lambasted in the press, listening to others say that he was the "death of American Idol". And I do believe he did the best he could, and he was utterly in over his head. I blame the judges for putting him there in the first place. One could hope they learned a lesson about whom they choose? I give him MAD snaps for changing the words of Let's Give Em Something To Talk About - instead of "let's give em something to talk about, how about loooooove" he does "let's give em somethign to talk about, other than haaaaaiiiiir". Funny.

Let's get back to singing. See you next week.

Sorry - NO RECAP Post Tonight

2007-04-17T15:43:00.000-05:00

I'll be watching Taylor Hicks in concert in Baltimore during the show. I'll try to get to it tomorrow before the results, but no promises. Cheers - enjoy!! PLEASE feel free to recap yourself in the comments. I'll post it to the main post if ya do!

More Sanjaya on YouTube

2007-04-12T20:22:00.000-05:00

I can't resist. Don't get me wrong - I think Sanjaya is going to be the death of American Idol. But it's funny what the YouTubers come up with. For your enjoyment:

Top 8 - Results

2007-04-11T19:50:00.000-05:00

Interesting. Here's where Dial Idol has it:

Blake Lewis
Melinda Doolittle
Phil Stacey
Haley Scarnato
Sanjaya Malakar
Chris Richardson
Jordin Sparks
Lakisha Jones

Wow. I also just finished watching Countdown with Keith Olbermann. For some reason, he's seized on the whole Sanjaya thing this season and he referenced the relatively sagging ratings, especially as compared to this time last season (down by 4 million viewers). He seems to wonder if Idol has "jumped the shark" and whether or not Sanjaya led them to it. It was also interesting to see them feature Simon's comments to Haley. Countdown thinks she's the one to go this week. Follow through the click for the rest of the recap.

With that, we're at the show. We're told that literally millions of families are glued to their TV sets tonight to see if their favorites survived. This reminds me that I'm still pissed that Gina went home last week. Judges - check. Pimping other Idol activities - check. Randy thought the songs were tough for them last night - the genre was tough, but they did pretty good. Paula giggles. A lot. And then doesn't make sense. Simon is feeling ok about giving a compliment to Sanjaya last night. Whew - glad he's comfortable.

Oh NO - I thought we had dispensed with the dreaded group sing!! But no - we are treated to Vamanos. Who decided to pair Sanjaya and Haley for one of the vocal segments? Suddenly I couldn't hear any singing and Haley forgot the words. Ugh. Phil's back in a hat - he's learning. Lakisha is paired with Blake and the difference between what they did and Haley and Sanjaya did is like night and day. Please Lord - tonight let it be Haley. At least Sanjaya gave something last night. All Haley did was wear small clothes. I'm also not digging Jordin at all this week. She's screechy and out of tune. Ugh. Thank God that's over.

Commercial time!

And we're back. We meet Brian Carter from ASHBURN - I know that dude!!! I swear to God. How bizarre! They won the Idol thingy this week. We learn that neither $10K nor $100K matters to Simon. We get to the Idol Challenge question this week. The answer is B. Text it to 51555 or go to AmericanIdol.com and vote there - the answer, again, is 'B'. We also learn they've gotten over 5,000 song entries for the songwriting thingy.

We had over 35 million votes this week. Somehow we're going to get some opinions this week. Ryan's at the Farmer's Market in LA. He's asking random people random questions. They liked J-Lo. One guy remembers "the girl running around in the skimpy clothes". Go figure. He talks to two Blake girls who thought Melinda was good, and then we meet some Sanjaya fans. We get a bunch of comments about Sanjaya's mustache, and a small girl disses Blake, Jordin and Haley. One guy liked Jordin, and so do a few others. The fangirly girls love Blake, that's for sure. Oh bad - no one knows who Chris Richardson is. Bummer. Ryan gets a random kiss and we're back to the results.

American Idol has a hitlist - they've compiled the 50 top songs from all the charts, and you can vote on them to be performed on the show! Yawn. We now see A-Kahn (?) who is currently number 1 on the hot 100 list with Don't Matter. Not my kind of music. Yawn. Why is the show an hour long tonight?? Aieee!

We're back with this week's Ford commercial. It's a scary morph kind of thing - I don't like it. It frightens me. I will note that Haley can't even lip synch. We're back with the Idols seated. But first, we're reminded that in two weeks we have the Idol Gives Back mega-smash-star-studded event. Personally, I like this effort. If you're interested, check out The One Campaign's website. The crisis in Africa is a blight on humanity, and we should all make it a priority to dig deep and help out. Oh and this is CLASSIC and my esteem for Simon Cowell just went up about 1000%. They're in Africa and Simon's pushing the $183 "School in a Box" - it's all the supplies 8 students would need for school. Each of the girls he's visiting have drawn a picture of him, and one has put - I'm not kidding - BOOBS on her picture of Simon and Simon pokes fun at it. It's a hoot. He can laugh at himself. I think that's great.

Simon talks about the trip in Africa just a bit, and Ryan asks him if they raise $20 million, will Simon get up on the stage and sing. No. Not for $26 million either, but the bidding hasn't stopped. They do a funny Tony Bennett thing as if he was auditioning...

Another commercial folks.

And we're back! I have us as 34 minutes in to a 60 minute show. There are the Idols. Again. We recap the actual show. Again. Oh man - Haley came off the stage and told the camera she was going to go "put a robe on" and then she rolled her eyes after Simon's comments. What a beatch. Please. Be. Gone.

So we're back with the Idols. Ryan talks about Melinda's first bad feedback, and Melinda doesn't have anything but respect for what Simon said. Ryan wants to know if Haley was offended by what Simon said - she said it hurts a bit. She won't wear anything that's inappropriate and she thought her outfit was "Latiny". Blake admits that he gets a little nervous. Phil feels good to be here. Now here we go.

Phil: Bottom 3
Lakisha: SAFE
Jordin: SAFE
Melinda: SAFE
Haley: Bottom 3
Blake: SAFE
Chris: Bottom 3
Sanjaya: SAFE

SNAP FOR ME!! I TOTALLY called the bottom 3 in my predictions. Scared of myself! Hah. Commercial time folks, and apparently they'll make the bottom 3 sweat through a performance by J-Lo. Cruel.

We're back - we're sending one person back to the sofa. Chris Richardson gets sent back to the sofas - he's SAFE. Phil has it in perspective - he's smiling and says he's blessed to be there so why wouldn't he smile? We see a J-Lo package again. She does seem like a super nice person. Now she performs. I'll reiterate - I dig J-Lo. That takes us right to a commercial.

And we're back! We must be near the end. There's only like 2 minutes left. And they get right to it. Haley Scarnato is going home. Yay!!! I'm so glad she's gone. Yay.

See you next week!

Top 8 - Predictions

2007-04-11T19:17:00.000-05:00

Ok - Predictions before I run to the store. I haven't looked at Dial Idol or anything this week, so these are totally what I think will happen.

Who should go: Haley Scarnato

Bottom Three: Phil Stacey, Chris Richardson, Haley Scarnato

Who will go: Haley Scarnato

Buh bye. See you for the results show. (Hi Jimmy)

Top 8 - Performance

2007-04-10T19:25:00.000-05:00

Ok - I'm not as late as I thought I would be. About 25 minutes. It's apparently Latin Night, and we start backstage with the Idols and all the makeup mirrors. Ryan's very besuitedness come out on the stage to the screaming, sign-waving fans. This is the show WE control, we are reminded. We are admonished to give it up for the band and for the judges. Paula looks pretty lucid this week. Yay!!

Jennifer Lopez, the very J-Lo, is apparently the guest coach tonight. Cool! I dig J-Lo. We are taken on a package tour of her storied career. She's Queen of the Bootie, giving up her rehearsal time to coach the top 8. She talks about the differences between the 8, their styles and "vibes". She talks about having to convey the emotion with Latin music It's a challenging genre - I know, from performing it. It's not for everyone. Follow over the click for the whole recap.

Melinda Doolittle is doing a song I do!! Sway!! It was originally covered by Dean Martin but jumped back up there with its cover by the Pussycat Dolls. It's one of my faves!! J-Lo recorded it - in Spanish. Melinda's excited. I don't know if I'll be able to sing it again if Melinda blows it away. Melinda has to channel her inner sexy to make this song work. She comes out in a black dress - she looks pretty. She's good through the first abbreviated verse and bridge/chorus. She sounds great but it's not a pipes kind of song. She gets a few appropriate power notes in there, but probably not enough to show off her voice. She takes the key change and handles it nicely - it's a squirelly change. I like her look and her phrasing. It's a good performance - not a blow-you-away one, but very good. A.

Randy: He finds the genres interesting. Another solid performance. Not her best, but solid.

Paula: Very sultry, very smooth. She looks lovely and appreciated the subtlety.

Simon: He didn't like it. That song is all about personality, and she appeared much older than she is, and she appeared very lounge/cabaret. He liked the end, but he thought it was lazy and wooden. He thinks she's better than that.

Melinda's happy because she thought Simon really wanted to say something bad and he got the chance (nicely handled by Melinda!). 1-866-IDOLS01 or text 5701. I'll vote for her tonight.

Interesting - as we go to break, we are informed Lakisha is up next. Divas out of the gate.

We're back, and Lakisha Jones gets a viewer question. Q: What made you try out for the show? A: She wanted to provide a better life for her daughter. Short and simple. She's with J-Lo, and we learn Lakisha can't really pronounce Spanish words and can't dance Latin. So J-Lo's schooling her. It's funny. She's singing Congo, the Gloria Estefan dance classic. The band sounds great. Lakisha's dressed for the song. The girls are out in force, of course - she's singing well and moving well. This is a great song coice, because she's singing well and it's an energetic, fun, recognizable song. She's playing the song pretty straight vocally. Again, she doesn't really have a chance to showcase her formidable pipes. Overall, it's a very good performance. She gets an A.

Randy: Randy loved that she was having a good time and she made it her own. It was hot.

Paula: Lakisha looks lovely, but she didn't feel it like Randy did. She thought it was safe.

Simon: Lakisha doesn't agree with Paula, but Simon does. It's not a singer's song.

Well I liked it, and I liked it just marginally better than Melinda's performance. 1-866-IDOLS02 or text 5702.

Another break and then we'll see Chris Richardson.

And we're back! We are reminded about "Idol Gives Back" and it's growing by the week in scope and starpower. J-Lo's with Chris, and he's singing Smooth, the smash Santana comeback hit. J-Lo's giving Spanish lessons again and she moves the key up a whole step (wow!). And here's Chris on stage with a guitar player and a percussion. He starts out in the low part and let me say - this is a VERY difficult song to sing. It's range is all over the place. Chris looks like he's concentrating a bit, but he sounds good. He changes is a bit but not too much. I like the higher parts much better than the lower register. He knocks the chorus off and does it well. He adds some runs in there - just a bit too much - but good. Another A.

Randy: He was worried about the song but he did a very cool job.

Paula: It was a hot performance.

Simon: Not the best vocal he's heard, but he preferred it to the first two because it was more contemporary. It was a good performance.

1-866-IDOLS03 or text 5703. ANOTHER commercial break - after are Haley and Phil.

And we're back, and Ryan's with the judges, who are out from behind the desk. Haley Scarnato is singing Turn the Beat Around (OH MY GOD). J-Lo seems to think Haley needs rhythmic help. Blake comes in to beatbox. Haley's in SHORT shorts but the boobs are not the central focus of the outfit. Haley dances. Haley starts out in the middle part of the harmony - I expected to hear the high part. It wasn't bad - a little weak. She's in the verse. She does the rhythmic stuff passably well, but runs out of breath which affects her pitch. It's all over the place, and she's literally being drowned out by the band. Now she's shaking and jiggling. This wasn't bad, but it was sloppy vocally. B-.

Randy: Really karaoke for him tonight. He didn't get it at all. Any bar.

Paula: Not a singer's song, but fun and she had fun up there.

Simon: He thinks she has a good tactic - wear the least amount of clothes as possible because she can't do well vocally because there's much better singers and all she can do is have fun. He couldn't understand her - the vocals were rushed.

Simon speaks truth again. Ryan gives her a chance to respond to Simon and she goes diplomatic. Probably smart. 1-866-IDOLS04 or text 5704.

We move right to Phil Stacey, who is singing Maria Maria. J-Lo is listening to him, and this weirds Phil out. He's a bit starstruck. Phil will get to showcase his voice on this one - he gave J-Lo goosebumps. Phil's wearing a hat, which is smart I think. He starts out soft and his voice is really quite perfect for this song. He sounds great. He goes through the first verse and goes to the bridge/chorus. Did I mention that he sounds great? I mean, really great. This is a totally challenging song rhythmically and vocally and Phil is knocking it back so far. He gets just a tiny bit screamy in a later part, but overall I really, really liked this. A.

Randy: He doesn't know if it was his best - he didn't feel the passion - but he has a great upper range.

Paula: Vocally she thought it was a really good vocal.

Simon: Phil's a nice guy, but he didn't find any originality - he thought it was lifeless and flat.

Why do the judges hate Phil?? He was my best performance so far tonight. 1-866-IDOLS05 or text 5705.

Jordin Sparks is up next and she gets a viewer question: If you were in charge of choosing next week's theme, what would it be? A: She would do 80's music because she loves it. She's with J-Lo. Rhythm Is Gonna Get You is her choice. J-Lo thinks she has a sweet voice. She gives dancing lessons again. Jordin looks pretty, though not very Latin-y. She handles the first verse very well, and she's into the chorus - but like the other two big-voiced girls, this isn't really a singer's song. For the first time, I don't really like Jordin's tone - it's a little thin and shrill in parts and she hits a really, really flat note that she adjust to the proper place. Ouch. She ends it by taking it way up and changing the song appropriately, which helps the performance a lot. B+.

Randy: Of course he loves her because she's 17 and has the yo factor.

Paula: Loves that she's authentic. She's adorable.

Simon: It was an OK performance. Nothing stunning, and he hasn't seen a progression tonight.

1-866-IDOLS06 or text 5706.

Blake Lewis - doing I Need to Know, by Marc Anthony (J-Lo's hubby FYI). J-Lo wants him to feel the emotion and get into the passion of the song. Blake's out on the stage - he always look the part. I like this song, by the way, and in a weird way, it suits Blake's voice. His vocal is good through the first verse and chorus. He has some moves thrown in there but so much that it distracts. Second verse is good as well. Overall I think this is one of my favorite Blake performance. A.

Randy: Best song choice of the night. Hot performance.

Paula: Very smart performance. Captured who he is.

Simon: Best choice of song, best performance so far.

1-866-IDOLS07 or text 5707.

Break, then Sanjaya. Ugh.

Sanajaya Malakar chose Besseme Mucho. Oh God. J-Lo really liked it. It's a good choice for him. So here's Sanjaya, sitting on stage. He's bcut his hair and he almost looks Hispanic. He singing more strongly than usual. He makes lovey eyes at the camera. He sounds better than he usually sounds, but the song isn't really that challenging. This is, without a doubt, the BEST he's done by a long shot.

Randy: He thinks he's smart and thought it was really good.

Paula: Very very nice.

Simon: couldn't understand a word of it, sang like a 14 year old, and it wasn't horrible.

1-866-IDOLS08 or text 5708.

I'm revamping my final rankings:

Blake Lewis
Phil Stacey
Lakisha Jones
Melinda Doolittle
Chris Richardson
Jordin Sparks
Sanjaya Malakar
Haley Scarnato

Going to be a wee bit late with tonight's recap

2007-04-10T18:42:00.000-05:00

Sorry folks - I will get to it tonight, but about an hour late. See you then!

Sanjaya Anthem - aka, The World Has Gone Insane

2007-04-04T20:59:00.000-05:00

I saw this on a teaser for the evening news and found it on YouTube - comedian Eric Schwartz' ode to Sanjaya.

Top 9 - Results

2007-04-04T19:46:00.000-05:00

All RIGHT! The results show is here. According to MJs Big Blog, Tony Bennett is too ill to perform tonight. :-( I don't like to hear that - Tony's on of the all-time legendary greats. MJ said that today they were scrambling to find a replacement. We'll see.

There are our judges - what's with Paula's blouse? It's like a bad shirt I owned in the 80s in the 7th grade. Ugh. We now recap the performances as though we didn't watch them last night. Does American Idol think people are tuning in ONLY for the resutls but not watching the show such that we need this lengthy recap? I do get another chuckle watching Simon laugh when Paula referred to Jordin as a "magnet of joy". Heh. And what's with the "is your favorite headed home?" crap? Of course someone's favorite is headed home. What a goofy thing to say.

Sorry. I guess I'm feeling a little bitchy tonight. :-) Click to the extended for the rest of the recap.

And we're back from one of countless commercials with the Ford commercial. They're chanelling Bob Marley in a very white kind of way. This is not one of the better commercials, but I'm glad it's for a hybrid.

Ryan's pimping the downloads on the AI site, and is pimping some songwriting contest. Huh. So here we go with the beginning of the results. It's groups of three tonight:

Group 1: Blake, Chris, Sanjaya (who cut his hair!!!) - SAFE (so much for the call on Sanjaya, also)
Group 2: Haley, Gina, Phil - Bottom Three
Group 3: Jordin, Melinda, Lakisha (diva trio!) - SAFE (so much for my shocker prediction)

I think they sit Gina down after the break. Given my need to readjust, I'm going to hope and pray it's Haley who goes home tonight. I don't want to see her whiny, bitchy face making faces as people comment about her legs when that's about all she's really bringing to the competition.

And we're back! Haley makes faces. We meet the AI Challenge winner. Challenge time: The answer is A. Text A to 51555. You can also vote from the AI site. Hm... Allstate donated to Idol gives back? How about they just honor the policies they are ducking in the Katrina and Rita aftermath? Pfaw. We hear that Tony has the flu. :-( But Michael Buble is standing in (hat-tip MJ for posting that!). I gotta say - they put this guy on the hook today. He's performing live on the most watched television show on the air with almost NO preparation or rehearsal. He looks a little hyper-aware, but he sounds great. I didn't know he was so... normal looking. Huh.

Michael pimps his album - it's only fair. Buble asks if he's still wasting his votes by still voting for Antonella Barba. Huh. Not very funny - just a tad lame.

And we're back, and we're "reminding ourselves" of our bottom 3 tonight. Someone's sitting down - and it's PHIL STACEY. Oh my GOD!! I hope Haley goes!! Please please please please!!! Gina doesn't even belong in the bottom three, let alone the bottom two. Simon's not surprised, Haley rolls her eyes. Please please please please let it be Haley. And it's freakin' GINA who's going home.

Please avert your children's eyes:

This is total fucking bullshit. I don't know if I want to watch any more.

Top 9 - Predictions

2007-04-04T19:28:00.000-05:00

Ok - I'm cutting it close here. The results show is in a half and hour, so here are my predictions:

Who should go: Sanjaya

This week's bottom three: Lakisha, Haley, Sanjaya

Who will go: Lakisha

I'm taking a risk here because I've been thinking it would be Phil, but perhaps not - so I'm taking the risk and making the call.

Top 9 Perform!

2007-04-03T19:00:00.000-05:00

All right! It's that time again. Tonight's high-profile super-mega-legend coach is Tony Bennett. He's before my time, but everything I've seen indicates that he's still a cool dude and a nice one to boot. Ryan's looking smashing in shades of black, I must say - love the look.

We go through the usual routine - we get the intro, the band recognition, the nerve-shot of the 9 remaining contestants, and the introduction of the judges. We are admonished that Tony Bennett is "the master" and we get a recap of his storied career. 109 albums, 15 Grammys, numerous other awards, and all at the tender age of 80! The remaining Idols are thrilled to meet them. He loves them - they're a rare group. Note he didn't say they were a talented group. Follow over the click to the first performance of the night.

And we get right into it. Blake Lewis is up first, singing Mac the Knife. Perhaps a smart choice. Tony observes that he has to get to the meaning of the song. And we're right to Blake's performance. He's dressed up for this one. I can't say I think the outfit, which looks like none of it actually goes together, does much for me. His beginning vocal is good - it's relaxed, it's in the right key and he's in tune. He dances a bit here and there as the music continues to modulate up. I have to say - this is probably one of my favorite Blake performances because he's IN TUNE throughout pretty much whole song. Quite good. He gets an A-.

Randy: (crowd screams wildly) He thinks it's a very good way to start the evening. He points out a few pitch problems (which I didn't really hear) but thought it was good.

Paula: Blake was "pizzazz". He's cool.

Simon: Good song choice, says Simon - gives him 7 out of 10 where he gives the band 8 of 10. He mentions that the band played a big part in the song.

Blake doesn't mind going first, and he was most worried about the lyrics. 1-866-IDOLS01 or text 5701. I'd throw a vote his way tonight.

We're gonna break, which is good so I can eat quickly.

And we're back!! We pimp the American Idol Gives Back extravaganza again, and that's a good thing. They have to split the live broadcast, apparently, that's how popular it is. That's good, too. And Kelly Clarkson is going to sing live - that's actually news!

Phil Stacey has been looking forward to this week - Tony's his hero. Tony wants him to speed the song up a bit and put a beat behind it. Tony thinks he's one of the better singers he's heard period, and I agree. Phil won't last long because people find him creepy, but he's a great singer. He starts off in a suit, behind the mic stand, singing this beautiful song Night and Day. It's a little weird for me - I think it's the arrangement, frankly, because Phil's in tune. This is a nuanced performance with a lot of bonus notes that are great, but I thought perhaps the vocal and the arrangement didn't always synch up. It's hard to grade this one - vocally, it's an A but the performance is a B.

Randy: It was an interesting choice for Randy, but he didn't feel any real connection or passion. It didn't hit him.

Paula: She thinks he's reminiscent of a young Frank Sinatra (Simon is shocked), but she needs him to have more joy and warm the vocals up throughout the song.

Simon: He doesn't think Phil's Frank Sinatra. He thought it had the joy of somone singing in a funeral parlor - it was gloomy and dark. No life in the performance. The other judges agree about the darkness. He was trying to focus on his wife. 1-866-IDOLS02 or text 5702. Poor Phil.

Melinda Doolittle is doing I've Got Rhythm, which is probably a really good choice. Tony loves her - thinks she's the best singer all day (or so far). She's out at center stage doing a jazzy version of the song. Can't really stand the dress, but Melinda's singing overcomes anything she's wearing. She goes to the chorus and it's fantastic. One of the things I like about Melinda is that in watching her, I truly believe she would rather be doing nothing other than singing THAT song on THAT stage at THAT moment. She sells it EVERY time. This week is no different. A+

Randy: Randy loves that she comes out every week and gives everyone a lesson in singing (yes, that's it exactly!).

Paula: She's like a master class for everyone else to watch. It was a flawless performance.

Simon: He didn't like the first part of the song, but he liked the last part of the song. He thought it was great in the second half - great, personality, fun. He doesn't think they're ever going to be able to criticize her.

Simon thinks it's a problem that they can't be mean occasionally with Melinda because she's so good. 1-866-IDOLS03 or text 5703.

Do I really care what House is doing next on House? No, I don't. Continuing - Chris R. gets a viewer question: what does he consider most when choosing a song? A: You have to do something you're comfortable with, see if the audience will like it, and then if the judges will like it. He went with a Duke Ellington song and he doesn't know the words. Mr. Saturday Dance is his choice. It's a little low for him in parts in the beginning. He's got the look down to go with the song - retro-hip. He hasn't sung through his nose once yet! Yay! So far the vocal is pretty good - I don't know how challenging the song is, frankly, but he's playing it straight - no extra runs (more or less), and no nose-singing. A good Chris R. performance. B+.

Randy: He thinks Chris came out with a vengeance and it was one of his best performances of the season.

Paula: He kept himself in the song and she loved it.

Simon: He thought it was very good - very believable, and he agrees with Randy and Paula about how he made it hip. Thought he was one of the strongest tonight.

1-866-IDOLS04 or text 5704. End of the show, peeps (duh).

Jordin Sparks is up next singing On a Clear Day. Tony thought she was in tune and had intelligent improvisation that fit the song. And we're right to Jordin's performance. She starts off strolling and singing. I can't say I like the tone of her voice for this particular song - she's punching through notes where I would rather hear some nuance, but she IS in tune. It's just loudly in tune. The song itself - the arrangement - is repetitive and repetitive in the high power parts. I can't fault her voice, but I'm not blown away. A-.

Randy: He loved that there's some heat up on stage tonight - it was the bomb.

Paula: She thinks Jordin is a magnet of joy. She's proud of her.

Simon: He thought she sang it well, but she didn't make the song young and current. She sang a song very well, but very old-fashioned and very traditional (I agree).

1-866-IDOLS05 or text 5705.

Gina Glocksen is singing Smile. Interesting. Probably outside of where she's been most successful, so we'll have to see. She starts seated. She's toned down the rocker a bit. This is a beautiful song. She's handling the beginning part quite well. She's my dark horse this season. She's much better than I think anyone realizes. This song is a nuanced performanced yet it's still Gina. She gets a teeny bit screamy but then pulls is back to the softer, sweeter vocal. I really, really liked that. She was completely in tune. A.

Randy: He actually liked it.

Paula: A flawless performance.

Simon: He can't rave about the vocal because two girls outsang her (disagree generally - she was better than Jordin imo).

1-866-IDOLS06 or 5706.

Tony's with Sanjaya and says that he "makes it interesting". Sanjaya is singing Cheek to Cheek and says that his goal is to show America that he really can sing. Let me pause for a moment - I find that interesting, because it's obvious, then, that he's seen the press surrounding him, the "Sanjaya is killing Idol" headlines and whatnot. I KNEW that would happen. WHY do you keep this kid around, America?? Sheesh. At any rate, here we go with the performance. Right out of the gate he's not in tune. He gets his pitch back after the first few notes. He loses it again in the low notes, but he's a bit more precise than weeks previous in his vocal this time around. But people - it's just not good. You HAVE to compare him to the other people in the competition and there's just no comparison. His vocal is better, but still not nearly good enough. C-.

Randy: Randy won't comment on the vocals, but he's turned into a great entertainer.

Paula: She gets why people love him but points out that vocals were off in the beginning.

Simon: He's trying a different tactic this week, and tells him it's "incredible".

1-866-IDOLS07 or text to 5707.

Haley Scarnato. She gets a viewer question: Is she more nervous singing or waiting for the judges. She picks out Simon. She's singing Ain't Misbehavin'. She's wearing a boob/legs dress again, playing to her "assets". She starts seated. The beginning of the song is in tune and quite pretty - a little breathy, but good. She's stalking around as the band comes in. She's on stage now and it's the uptempo part. It's all very broadway and it suits her. She gets in a clunker note but recovers quickly. This was probably a good song choice for her - she sings it strongly up until an AWFUL flat note at the end, one she held. Oops. Her grade: C+, just because of that awful note.

Randy: He thought this would be a good week for her... but what does Paula think?

Paula: Thinks green's a good color.

Simon: Thinks she's got great legs. He thought it was a good style of music, a little "pageanty".

Haley makes faces. 1-866-IDOLS08 or text to 5708.

Ok - since we're at commercials and my DVR has caught up, let me just say - Haley's attitude REALLY rubs me the wrong way. She's out there in a short, low-cut tight dress and she makes a face about the comment about her legs. Well, then wear a long skirt, girl. You can't work your assets and then be pissed off that someone noticed.

Lakisha Jones is doing Stormy Weather. Tony advises her to drop a run and stick where the song is written. Lakisha's out in floor-length dress - it's very attractive on her. She's styling this particular song, and the arrangement is different from the original. The vocal is excellent as usual. The difference between Melinda and Lakisha is in the believability arena. It's not that I don't believe Lakisha or that she gives poor performances that are vocally perfect - she's a very good performer. But Melinda's just a skosh better. I think I put Lakisha just slightly under Gina this week - mainly because she kept the final run in the end of the song and I thought that particular bit was the worst part of the performance. A-.

Randy: He loved it - perfect song - pitch problems at the front, but great in the end.

Paula: Most gorgeous she's ever looked. Sounded beautiful.

Simon: He thought it was sassy - a great performance.

1-866-IDOLS09 or text 5709.

Here are my final rankings:

Melinda Doolittle
Gina Glocksen
Lakisha Jones
Chris Richardson
Jordin Sparks
Blake Lewis
Phil Stacey
Haley Scarnato
Sanjaya Malakar

((sigh)) Predictions before the show tomorrow, but I can already feel who's going.

Top 10 - Results

2007-03-28T20:01:00.000-05:00

Oh crap. They gave Ryan a Sanjaya style pony hawk wig. It was creepy when Sanjaya did it and it's ridiculous when Ryan does it. Do they have to pump this freakin' kid up?? Jeez.

Ok. We're getting the recaps of last night's performances. This will move quickly, because it's only a half an hour show. Oh wait - sorry - I fell asleep listening to Haley's recap. At least I'm consistent. Is it me, or is Sanjaya only a little bit better, vocally, than William Hung? In a bizarro-world-on-its-head kind of way, I think Sanjaya and Hung are spirit brothers.

Four minutes into the show and we're at our first commercial break. ((sigh)) Follow over the click for the rest of the show.

All right. We just burned somwhere between two and three minutes on commercials, and we're back. We get this week's For commercial and it's a Western theme. I Fought the Law is the music, and it's really cheesy with the groupsing thing going on. Chris R. gets the "

Blake: SAFE (duh)
Lakisha: SAFE
Phil: Bottom 3 - Ooh that sucks. I thought he was one of the top performances last night!
Melinda: SAFE
Chris R.: SAFE (no shock - last week scared his voters)
Sanjaya: SAFE (CHRIST on a CRUTCH)
Haley: Bottom 3 (whoop - fell asleep again there for a second)
Jordin: SAFE

AFTER THE BREAK we hear which of Chris S. or Gina is in the bottom three. 11 minutes in, second commercial break.

Another two to three minutes of commercials and we're back. We meet the American Idol Challenge winner and we get this week's question. Text your answer to 51555 - the answer is "B". We get the "Idol Gives Back" update, and then we go straight to the Gwen Stefani performance. I can't say I'm a huge fan of Gwen Stefani's music (the style) but I admire her originality. For the record, I don't think she'd win American Idol - I don't even know if the're put her into the semi-finals, so clearly it's not ONLY singing talent that makes for a pop star. I don't think she's actually singing, folks. I think she's lip-synching! I hate that. Diana Ross wasn't awesome live, but she was real - she was actually singing. Gwen takes a hit from me for that.

We take YET ANOTHER interminable commercial break.

Just to reiterate, I had picked Sanjaya, Haley, and Chris S. to be in the bottom three this week. I clearly missed the Sanjaya/Phil switch (which is just wrong) but I got Haley. Let's see if I was 66% correct with the remaining member of the bottom 3.

Gina: SAFE
Chris S: Bottom 3

The Bottom 3 are Chris S., Phil, and Haley. I'm 66% right. Remember that I picked Haley to go home as well. Phil is going back to the couches, which is at least approaching right. Randy doesn't know who's going home. Paula doesn't find this fun. Simon thinks Chris S. is going home. Huh. And it is CHRIS SLIGH who is going home.

I'm telling you. I'm going to give up on this season. Not that I had any great love for Chris Sligh (he really let me down after the auditions), but Sanjaya not even in the bottom 3? Haley surviving because she wears short skirts??! Isn't this a SINGING competition? I literally doze off when I see Haley these days. Boring, boring boring. Yet she stays. This is all getting ridiculous.

Top 10 - Predictions

2007-03-28T18:54:00.000-05:00

Ok. Well, I got last week right on who actually went but got the bottom three all wrong.

It goes without saying that who should go is Sanjaya Malakar.

My pick for bottom three: Chris Sligh, Haley Scarnato, Sanjaya Malakar.

Who WILL go: Haley Scarnato

Nothing left but to watch and see if I'm right.

Top 10 - Performance

2007-03-27T19:15:00.000-05:00

Ok. First, I'm late getting started with tonight's recap. My bad. But only by about 25 minutes, so I'll more or less catch up by the end of the show. Second, I'm going to do a little twist in my recapping. I'm going to do my own in-the-moment analysis of an individual's performance, but then I'm going to guess what my mother would say about it. My mother watches this show as avidly as I do. Last season, musical "purists" were pretty unhappy with Taylor's choice to do Play That Funky Music. I thought it was full-on brilliant, because my mother was going to LOVE that. And my mother is pretty much like just about everyone else out there when it comes to American Idol - she likes especially what she knows. So I'm going to add to my recaps and reviews whether or not mom would love it.

Tonight's guest coach is Gwen Stefani. Pretty impressive. We get the Gwen intro, hear about all of her many and varied accomplishments, and I like her. She seems pretty down-to-earth and she seems like she wants to do this. Because it's an hour-long show, we're getting right to it. Follow over the click for the rest.

Lakisha Jones is up first. From the second I hear the piano during her time with Gwen, I know she's doing Donna Summer's classic Last Dance. GREAT choice, I think. It suits Lakisha's very diva-ness in a fun and unpretentious way. Gwen kind of sums it up when she indicates that she (Gwen) should be taking lessons from her (Lakisha).

Lakisha chooses the slow part, the normal start to the song and it sounds great. I'm a little surprised that she didn't go for some of the more recognizable high notes, but hey - she's making it her own. She's now into the uptempo disco part, and it sounds made for her. She doesn't sound like Donna Summer, but she definitely is suited for this song. I like her funky retro-disco outfit, too. She ends strong. What else can you say? She doesn't hit a bad note the whole time. The only criticism I can make is that she didn't entirely lose herself in the song, but only with the caveat that it's not that kind of song. She gets an A.

Randy: He thinks it's good to see her "rock it". It was hot.

Paula: Reminds us Donna Summer isn't easy and says Lakisha did her proud.

Simon: It's great - because she's 30 years younger this week. Loved the big notes at the end, loved the uptempo song, and she had a great vocal.

My Mom: My mom loved it because she loves that song.

She's with Ryan. Lakisha's work friend are in the house and they're excited. 1-866-IDOLS01 or text to 5701.

Commercial time.

We're back, and Ryan's sitting with Chris Sligh. The glasses are back. The hair is still curly. He gets a viewer question: How much downtime do you have and how do you spend it. A: Not a lot, but he spends it knitting and crocheting and playing bongos in boxer shorts. But seriously - he tries to get as much sleep as possible when there's downtime. He's with Gwen, and he's singing Every Little Thing She Does is Magic. Gwen thinks his voice is great but he has to work on his timing. The band will help.

So we're to Chris' live performance. He starts the way the song starts, standing behind the mic stand. He's a teensy bit ahead of the band for a moment, but gets it back at the chorus. I like this performance, but it's not flawless by any measure. I'm not sure if this song is the right choice for Chris - not a bad choice, but he's really having trouble with the tempo. It's weird. The guy has a band for God's sake. I'm not loving this performance. B-.

Randy: Good song choice, biggest problem was the timing. He never quite got in the pocket. Chris thinks it's because he's never sung the song before, but he did the best he could, but he agrees.

Paula: Biggest amount of criticism she's had all season is his not being in the pocket, but vocally it was good.

Simon: Forget timing, he thought it was a mess. At this stage - assume it's the first time - what is he supposed to think? It was a mess and it didn't represent him.

My Mom: She liked the song but didn't love the performance.

Ryan's with Chris. He wants to know if Chris thought he was taking a risk. Chris didn't think it was a risk, but it's one of those songs either you get or you don't, and he didn't - his bad. 1-866-IDOLS02 or text 5702.

Gina Glocksen - we're going right to her package with Gwen. She's crying - Gwen's a big inspiration for her. She's singing I'll Stand By You. Probably a good choice, frankly. She's dressed all rocky, and she starts the song out sounding quite good. She does a nice soft falsetto in there that you wouldn't expect - very pretty. She's really putting me in mind of Kelly Clarkson in the beginning of this song. The chorus is good, but the bridge is better - it's lets her power through it with her voice. They take a key change and then the song ends. Quite good - she gets an A.

Randy: He talks about boot night. He thought it was one of her best performances ever. It was a perfect song for her.

Paula: She loved that Gina's improving and coming into her own. It was a great song choice. It was the best so far.

Simon: Wasn't one of her best performances - it was her BEST performance. This is all about knowing who you are and choosing the right song. She's transformed from three or four weeks ago. He loved it.

My Mom: Hm... Don't know if she knows that song and she probably won't like Gina's look and her tongue stud so she's pretty neutral on Gina.

1-866-IDOLS03 or text to 5703. We're to another commercial - everything at a fast tempo tonight.

Oh groan. We're back and it's Sanjaya Malakar. He's with Gwen, and he's singing a No Doubt song - Backwater. Gwen thinks he's nervous and it's a hard song, so good luck for him. Sanjaya's got this WEIRD HAIR going on - a ponytail mohawk. I don't know this song. It's not awful, but it's sloppy - it's a stacatto song that calls for precision in what he sings, but verbally and vocally and he's not getting it done. He's noticeably slightly flat or sharp in spots. This is like he's singing while he's falling down the stairs. I'm serious. Jesus. D-.

Randy: He's speechless every time. The hairdo is interesting. He likes the look. At the end, it reminded him of someone who could sing, but he has to put it out there.

Paula: If he had the ability to totally go for it it would fit the hairdo. But he didn't, and they're left flat. Come on.

Simon: I presume there was no mirror in your dressing room. Sanjaya mouths Simon - bad move. It doesn't matter any more what they say, Simon thinks. He's in his own universe, and if people like him, good luck.

My Mom: She hated it. Hated the song, hates that the kid can't sing or perform, and will be pissed beyond belief that he did a "faux-hawk" as a gimmick to stay around.

Ryan's with him. Sanajaya's getting cocky. I think that will work against him, frankly. I hope. 1-866-IDOLS04 or text 5704.

Haley Scarnato is up next and she better not butcher my favorite song, True Colors. Gwen wants her to tone it down when she changes the song. Haley starts seated. She's back to her sweet, soft forgettable voice. She's not showing any boob this week - bad move - they didn't vote for her great voice last week, folks. The skirt is short, so she's smart there. Vocally this is just ok. This song is not meant for a Muzak interpretation, and that's what she's giving. You need some edge and ass in this vocal, and she doesn't have it. I give her a solid unenthusiastic C. Yawn.

Randy: It started a little rough, got better, but it was just all right.

Paula: It's a beautiful song. She did an adult contemporary performance it didn't stay younger.

Simon: He wants to know how she thought she did - she thought she did well - he thought it was sweet but forgettable. There was nothing to remember.

My Mom: Liked the song, doesn't like Haley. She's not strong enough.

1-866-IDOLS05 or text to 5705.

Commercial time.

Phil Stacey is up next. He's wearing the hat again. He gets a question: How does it feel to go from an unknown to a household name in weeks? Phil thinks it's a good question, They're so busy they don't even really hear abut it or see it. Phil's doing Every Breath You Take, and Gwen is pleasantly surprised. She doesn't think he needs to do any extra stuff. Phil starts out this wildly recognizable song and it really really suits his voice. He's super strong on this song. He's not shouty at all with it - he sings it softly without losing quality where he needs to. He's to the power the song and I'm telling you - his pitch is absolutely spot-on. He does a very nice high falsetto at the end of the power bridge - nice balance. I loved that. A.

Randy: He liked that. It was a solid performance and he didn't push it.

Paula: Good choice. He has personality and color to his voice. The verses he played it safe. Work on building more character in the verses, but a good performance.

Simon: He thought it was very good. Great choice of song, and he felt Phil was taking it seriously.

My Mom: She thinks he shouts, but I bet she liked it.

1-866-IDOLS06 or text to 5706.

Melinda Doolittle is up next. Heaven Knows is what she's going to do. Gwen loves her. she was amazed to watch her. She doesn't think she needs any luck. Melinda starts out dancing in the middle of the stage. She's all 70-d out, too. It looks good. She has a ot of attitude in the song. The first verse is lowish and she sings it well. She gets to the chorus and she takes it up higher, and she still sounds great. She repeats the chorus and she improvises a bit, and it fits. She's like Lakisha - you can't really say anything bad about her. Not a wrong note, she was totally believable, and she owned the song. A+.

Randy: Randy gives her snaps about how she "owns" the song. It was the bomb again.

Paula: Melinda has charisma from the word go. She's joyful.

Simon: I don't think this is going to be the performance that was the best. Vocally she was outstanding. He hated the outfit.

My Mom: She'll love it. She loves the song and loves Melinda.

Ryan's with her. 1-866-IDOLS07 or text 5707.

Commercial time.

We're back with Blake Lewis. Come on, Blake. Stop letting me down. He's doing a love song by the Cure. Gwen thinks the melody is strong and he needs to not distract with the beat boxing. Blake has his hair kind of mushed down. I kind of sort of know this song and it suits Blake's voice. Very smooth and he's in tune this week. The song itself isn't a super vocal show-off tune, but Blake gets to do some softer stuff. He wanders a bit off key in the second verse and comes back when he goes into the chorus. He gets a solid B from me this week.

Randy: I'm no sure it was the perfect song choice, but he made the most of it and he liked it.

Paula: She loved what he did with the song. She thinks he's being original and he's hip.

Simon: Definitely the strongest guy in the competition. But he's in the Chris Daughtry zone and don't become too indulgent so that it gets boring. I agree with the boring thing.

My Mom: She won't know the song and won't like the performance.

1-866-IDOLS08 or text 5708.

Jordin Sparks is doing Hey Baby Hey Baby Hey, a mega No Doubt hit. Gwen likes her. Jordin's kind of having trouble with the very first part of the first verse. She gets it back as the verse continues. When she gets to the part preceding the chorus, she's better. In what passes for the chorus, she's a little pitchy and kind of out of tune. She's definitely attitudinally into the song - I'll give her that. The second bridge part is much better and she's in tune as the song winds down. Not my favorite. It was kind of sloppy, with some obvious problems. She gets a C for this one.

Randy: He thought it was risky. He thought she did great (!!!). Gads.

Paula: She loved it.

Simon: Probably the most improved contestant over the last few weeks. The song was younger, but the song was also copy-cattish.

My Mom: She won't like the song, and because she likes Jordin she'll think it was just ok.

1-866-IDOLS09or text 5709. Commercial time.

And we're BACK. Chris Richardson is singing Don't Speak. Gwen's seen him to "vocal Olympics" and she hopes he sticks to the melody and focuses on the song and the emotion. Chris starts out well enough for me. He's behind the microphone and he's singing kind of softly and it's nice. He's in the bridge and there's a bit of a rough patch vocally. Now he's gone to the run stuff, and he's started singing through his nose. As the song modulates it's literally a mess. He gets it back in the final chorus somewhat, but that earlier part was out of tune and weird. Truly unpleasant. I'll give him snaps for trying a really difficult song, but overall, not good. C-.

Randy: Very interesting. He liked the R&B Ska and flavor. Not his best vocal, but he liked it. (!!!)

Paula: She thinks he's good and it was good.

Simon: He thought the song choice was much better, but he wasn't crazy about the vocal (I totally agree). He struggled in the middle and he's got to pay a lot more attention on his vocals.

My Mom: She won't know the song and she hates that Chris sings through his nose.

1-866-IDOLS10 or text 5710.

My final rankings with a following caveat:

Melinda Doolittle
Gina Glocksen
Phil Stacey
Lakisha Jones
Blake Lewis
Chris Sligh
Jordin Sparks
Chris Richardson
Haley Scarnato
Sanjaya Malakar

The caveat: For me, the first four in the rankings were all very very close. I liked them all immensely for different reasons. Haley and Sanajaya are worlds away from the rest of them.

Top 11 - Results Show

2007-03-21T19:53:00.000-05:00

Ok. You saw my predictions. I could be completely inaccurate this week. I think the only thing I can say with any certainty is that I don't think Melinda or Lakisha will go home. That leaves another 9 Idols. :-) At least I'm honest!

Ryan's all be-suited again. The crowd goes wild. We review last night's theme and meet the judges (it escapes me why they do that). We now get the recap, which I won't cover since I recapped it while it was happening. I like the ones I liked as much in the snippets, and I disliked the ones I disliked as much as well. We go right to the British Invasion performance by Peter Noone - A Kind of Hush. I actually really don't like this song, but I like Peter Noone. He seems like a nice guy, and he's singing pretty well. He turns to the Idols, and they all make faces like "What the ----?" Wonder what he did? Is his fly open? Heh. More recapping and spoiling after the click.

Break now for commercials 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

When we come back we get this week's Ford commercial, filmed in a laundromat. You only see the actual Ford for about 5 seconds. Brad Garrett is, for some reason, sitting with the Idols. Hah. It's funny. It's results time! Brad is immediately cut, and he returns to his seat.

We go through the Idols:

Phil: SAFE
Melinda: SAFE
Blake: SAFE

(Note - they're randomly pulling them up. No seating order thing)

Chris S.: SAFE
Lakisha: SAFE
Jordin: SAFE

My prediction odds for the bottom three are improving.

Sanjaya: SAFE
Haley: SAFE
Gina: SAFE

Hm. Only two left.

Chris R: SHOCKER - Bottom two.
Stephanie: Not a shocker - Bottom two.

Now to commercials 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 (a shoe commercial - my fave), 13, 14, 15 and 16.

We meet the American Idol challenge winner and get this week's question. Text your answer (the answer is A) to 51515 or go to AmericanIdol.com to enter. We re-pimp Idol Gives Back, and I think that's a good thing. This is one of the most popular shows on the planet, and even a small exposure to those in need is a good thing. This week he's begging for Corporate donations - Smart. I'll email the marketing people at my company, you can bet on it.

Now we get Lulu's performance, To Sir With Love. We learn also that she starred in the movie with Sidney Poitier. I want to be Lulu when I grow up, man. She looks GREAT. If she's had work done, it's really good work. I should try to be her friend if for no other reason than she could give me a great doctor's referral. ;-) She's in great shape and she sounds good. I hope one of her boobs doesn't make a break for it, though.

Good gracious. Commercials 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24. Insanity.

Only two minutes left, so Stephanie and Chris R. are center-stage. Neither looks very happy, though Stephanie really tries to smile through it. Chris looks nauseous. And the one going home is:

STEPHANIE EDWARDS

I called that one right. I got the bottom three wrong, but called the right one. Stephanie handles it with class and like a pro, frankly.

Ok folks - that's it for this week's installment. I will repeat for the record that while I didn't care for her performance last night, she's MILES above a Sanjaya or a Haley and it's just wrong that she's gone and they stayed. Wrong wrong wrong.

Results Show Predictions, Top 11

2007-03-21T18:03:00.000-05:00

This is a tough one. Here goes.

Who should go: Sanjaya Malakar

Bottom three: Stephanie Edwards, Haley Scarnato, Gina Glocksen

Who will go: Stephanie Edwards

I have no confidence in this, but there it is.

Is it Tuesday Already? The Top 11 Perform.

2007-03-20T19:12:00.000-05:00

Ah... I have been remiss in my American Idol posts this week. My apologies!! I started a new job on Monday and the preparations began on Friday. I haven't come up for air since. But I'm back at it tonight, live-recapping and posting reviews as the performances happen! Let's get right to it.

Seacrest is in a natty suit. I dig the purple - it's the same color as my sofa and loveseat. He's shaved, too!! Joy. He introduces the Idols in the order in which they will appear, and Haley's up first tonight. That can't be good. Melinda's once again in the pimp spot, and Sanjaya is towards the end of the show tonight. Ugh. Let's hope this is our last Sanjaya week. Here are the judges - Simon's back in black. Seacrest asks Randy about the "forgetting of the lyrics". Randy says there are NO excuses for that. Paula comments about nerves, telling the contestants to "shake them out" and then says to picture Simon "not dressed". Seacrest invited Simon's response, which is pretty weak, actually. Continue after the click for the rest of the show.

Theme tonight: British Invasion. We get the obligatory Beatles retrospective. We hear of some other not-Beatles, and we generally don't care. It apparently created a hair revolution, and I don't care much about that, either. Then we get to the cavalcade of better British bands, and I'm caring a bit more. Now we're to Peter Noone, who will be our Guest Coach tonight, along with Lulu (no last name). Wouldn't know her if she fell on me. Peter worked with the guys, Lulu with the girls. Lulu's loving on the girls.

Haley Scarnato is up first. She's singing Tell Him, and her goal is to be more aggressive and not so sweet. Lulu thinks the song choice is perfect, but admonishes her to make her phrasing staccato. Lulu tells her there's a "place for everybody" and to be proud and strong.

Haley looks the part tonight, with some Boots are Made for Walkin' shorts. She sounds good tonight. I'm not totally hating on her. She's picking up the boy vote with that outfit. We're about halfway through and I don't know that she's "edgy", but she's MUCH better than she has been in past weeks. So far she's totally in tune and looks relaxed. She's with the judges, singing right to them - very smart. The ending falls apart a little bit for me, like she ran out of steam a little, but overall, this was a solid B performance.

Randy: That was the perfect song and Haley's back!

Paula: Paula expounds on her girlish, flirtacious qualities and says it was a good performance.

Simon: Refers to her as "naughty". He thought it was fun and young with a bit of shriekiness in the middle, and he alludes to her outfit and looks as what people will talk about. No doubt.

Mr. RenaRF says she should be a stripper. Ryan blathers about navigating the stairs in heels. 1-866-IDOLS01 or text 5701.

We're back with Ryan with family members who are crying. How touching (not). Chris Richardson is going next. He's singing Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying. Noone thinks it's smashing. He wants to sing this song, not jump around. Noone hasn't heard much of Chris' voice so he likes this one. He warns him about his vibrato (AMEN!). I hope he doesn't sing through his nose. Just this time, please.

He's seated on stage with an acoustic guitarist. He still sounds very Justin Timberlake to me, and I'm not a Justin Timberlake fan. He's trying to soften this performance and his pitch is generally good with a few little kind of slidy weak spots. He gets up for the bridge and starts to sing through his nose. He adds those runs that don't add on a beautiful song. He's making an effort at this, though, and I have to give that to him. He's better towards the end with the high notes. Overall another solid B performance.

Randy: He's "dog" this and "dog" that. He thought it was another great performance that showed a different side to him. It was in tune.

Paula: It's all about being smart with choices, and he was smart. She liked the arrangement - thought it was sexy.

Simon: He thought it was his best performance so far. I agree - I'm not a Chris fan and I didn't hate it. Very good performance.

Seacrest is with him. He wants to know if Chris thought it was risky, and Chris thought it was hard to play it straight. 1-866-IDOLS02 or text 5702.

Stephanie Edwards is up next. She gets a fan question: What's the hardest part about getting ready for the show each week? A: the hardest is picking the song. She's with Lulu now, and she'll sing You Don't Have To Say You Love Me. Lulu says she's "grounded" and kind of indicates she's fearless. Lulu compares her to Beyonce (Jeez - enough with that).

It starts with the band, very dramatically. She starts softly - uncharacteristically so. It's nice. In the beginning she's playing it straight - she leaves a lot of space to let the song tell the story and she doesn't step on that story. Have to say I don't like the dress. She's in the chorus. She's handling it well. She makes a key change and takes it up a notch. This was a good performance, but a little underwhelming. Another B.

Randy: It was a great song choice but not her best performance for him. A little pitchy.

Paula: Loves her outfit. Loved the song choice. Some note problems. Hesitant endorsement. Wants her to go back to having fun.

Simon: He wants to know how she thought she did: she thought she did well. He thinks she's losing her edge - it's a bit night-clubby, and she's losing her soul. It was a very good cabaret performance. She's far too old for herself. He wasn't crazy about it.

Ryan's with her - she didn't really know any of these songs but tried to embrace it. She admits she could have a little more fun. 1-866-IDOLS03 or text 5703.

We get the AT&T pimp. Blake Lewis is up next. He's singing Season of Love. He's going to "Blakeize" it, apparently.

He starts off beat-boxy. He does the first verse pretty well and moves to the chorus, which is a little weak for me. He's much better in the verse - I think that the chorus is simply too high. My complaint with Blake is that he's sloppy. He drops notes where he shouldn't. But he's so entertaining, I think that keeps him afloat. I have to admit - this isn't a bad performance, but he's dropping notes and I'm frankly getting a little bored. He gets a C on this one - sorry folks.

Randy: He's a huge Blake fan. He put together a "massive Yo factor" version of the song. He apparently liked it.

Paula: She loved it. She was standing at the end.

Simon: He thought it was a million times better than last week. Strongest performance of the night as far as he's concerned.

Personally, I thought it was the worst Blake performance yet. 1-866-IDOLS04 or text 5704.

Lakisha Jones - we are led to believe that she's uncomfortable with the genre. She settles on You're My World, even though she preferred Diamonds Are Forever. Lulu tries to talk her into it by singing it to her in the Lulu way.

But she chooses Diamonds Are Forever. The first verse is great - spot-on. It makes me think of the Bond movie intros; I can close my eyes and picture it with her singing. She is all blinged out, too, and I think she looks the part. She kind of snarls her way through this, but with her great voice - the attitude she strikes, I think, is perfect for this. She goes to the bridge and there's no mistakes so far. She goes to the power part and the hair literally stood on the back of my neck. She is by far and away the best performance so far tonight. She ends it BIG. She gets a resounding A.

Randy: He thought it was a good choice. It wasn't his favorite performance, he didn't feel enough Lakisha in it. Just all right for him.

Paula: She thinks the song was the right song to choose. She also thinks Lakisha is a very smart girl, and we learn the diamonds she's wearing are actually real.

Simon: It's evident she's a fantastic singer. However. Tonight's performance was Lakisha in 50 year's time. He hated the hair, the outfit - wasn't his favorite performance. Too old, too old-fashioned.

Ryan joins her. How they can praise Blake and slam Lakisha is beyond me. Lakisha takes the "good with the bad and the ugly" regarding their feedback. Lakisha's happy if she sounds like this 45 years from now. 1-866-IDOLS05 or text 5705. For the record, Randy thought she looked great but wanted "more Lakisha" in the song - put more runs and such in because she can do it.

Phil Stacey is singing Tobacco Road. Phil chose it because it's so fun to sing. Noone thinks it's a great choice for Phil. He can "wail" in the high parts. Noone hasn't heard it sung as well as Phil during the rehearsal. Wow.

Phil's out there in all his baldness. Oh sad - he looks like he's been sweating for a while before he came on stage. But back to the vocals - very good. He's stalking around with the microphone in its stand - very Bo Bice. He's running back to center stage in the vamp. I have to say, about halfway through it's my favorite Phil performance. I can't tell if that's sweat or a stain or a pattern - it's very distracting from what is otherwise a great performance. Phil's on this one. I actually think I like this better than Lakisha. Sold strong A.

Randy: Let it all out. A pretty good performance - a couple pitchy spots (???). It was pretty good for him.

Paula: Really good choice of song. Some parts were pitchy, but the emotion of the song was on. She thought it was good.

Simon: He wasn't crazy about it. Kind of a third division bar band performance. He didn't find it believable (!!!). There wasn't grit in his voice. He has a problem because he thinks he's being outsung by a lot of the other singers. He may have a problem tomorrow.

Ryan's with him. What a bullshit review! Phil tried to bring it - bottom 3 scared him last week. 1-866-IDOLS06 or text 5706.

Ryan comes back with Jordin Sparks. I like Jordin, but I don't think she's quite as strong as some of the other girls. She gets a question: Name a song that describes you best. A: I'm So Excited by the Pointer Sisters. Duh. That fits, but it's a bit annoying. She's with Lulu, and Jordin thought meeting her was amazing. She's singing I Who Have Nothing. Don't know it, but it's apparently a big song and Lulu loves it. Lulu actually gives good direction. She knows where and what to punch in a song and shares that with the girls.

Jordin is very dramatic, straight hair, black dress, walking to center stage mic stand. She looks very pretty. She starts and I like the beginning - it compels me to watch her, actually. She's doing a good job with this song - it's very emotional and she's clearly taken Lulu's advice to heart and she's performing this song - owning it. This is a GREAT performance for Jordin. Best of the night for me - truly. A+.

Randy: Very tall order for a 17-year old. Great, great performance. One of the best.

Paula: Her range is becoming great each week. Great.

Simon: You sang it beautifully, but he feels like jumping off a bridge. It was SO gloomy (well duh). It was a bit depressing, but she sang it beautifully.

Hey - if Simon's depressed, Jordin did it right. Sometimes songs are sad, Simon. An Awful Lot Of Aliteration in that previous sentence. Jordin had to get into a zone where she was serious. 1-866-IDOLS07 or text 5707.

We are teased pre-commercial that after the commercial they'll unleash the "wild side" of Sanjaya.

All righty. 45 minutes to go. We drag Noone to his feet. Ryan extols that he brought something special out in the guys so far... He speaks truth: it's ISN'T a singing competition at this stage - it's a VOTING competition. So simple, yet so elusive and true. Sanjaya Malakar is with Noone. Sanjaya doesn't know British Invasion stuff. He has to songs - You Really Got Me. Noone talks about his lack of experience and calls him "cute looking". The other song is Into Something Good. Noone likes the second choice, but he should choose the first and SELL IT.

Here he is - You Really Got Me. He has a funky jacket on, jeans and an oversized shirt. He trying to dirty up his voice and show some personality. But he sings in a one-octave range, folks. He's doing better on the performance aspect but no one is going to be able to make Sanajaya a great singer in this forum. He's sloppy, his pitch sucks, and he's painful to listen to. Seriously. I hate to say it. Because a part of me wants him to click and simply blow my socks off but he can't. He's NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Better for Sanjaya, but still bad. D-

Randy: Sanjaya shocked him tonight. He wasn't reserved. It was his best performance. He came out of his shell.

Paula: That's what she'd been waiting for.

Simon: (Please speak some truth) Refers to a crying little girl and says her face says it all.

Ryan's with Sanjaya. The little girl liked him, Ryan points out. Ryan gets Sanjaya out there to hug her, which is actually very nice and the girl cries more. 1-866-IDOLS08 or text 5708. Someone PLEASE - spare me this kid.

Ok. Back from commercial. Gina Glocksen is with Ryan. Her hair's shorter - very emo. She's all blacked out and edgy. Fan question: Do you think being on AI has made you stronger? A: Definitely. They're under pressure and stress and she comes out and gives her best. What is this - Miss America? Sheesh. They try not to pay attention to what the media says about them. Gina's with Lulu, and she's singing Paint it Black. That explains the outfit. Lulu wants her to raise the key a half step, and Gina agrees. Lulu wants Gina to get the drama out of it.

Gina stalks around. The music starts, and it's one of those songs you immediately recognize. The first verse is a little rough for me, but the bridge gets MUCH better. I still think the song is a little low. I'll have to wait and see if she takes it way up. She's in a weird bridge and I can't tell if she does it really well or really badly - I don't know the original well enough to judge. I can't quite get the energy of this performance and this is all about angry energy. Just a soft B/high C for me.

Randy: He loved the whole edge vibe but not his favorite vocal. Just all right for him.

Paula: Thought it was miles better than last week. She has fun doing this and it shows.

Simon: There were moments of complete torture in the vocal. It was so off melody at moments it was horrible. It was just not very good - style over content. She's going to have to sing better - vocally not good enough. I have to agree.

Ryan's with her. Paula thinks Gina needs to work on her vocals and not abandon who she is. Randy thinks she needs to sing the big notes. Simon simply thinks the singing wasn't good enough and she's got to sing better. 1-866-IDOLS09 or text 5709.

Ryan returns with the obligatory judges' shot. Chris Sligh is up next. Chris knows his artist history - first with Simon and then with Noone. She's Not There is his choice. A highly recognizable song - probably a good choice. Noone implores Sligh to know what the song is about and make it believable. Noone thinks he'll do great.

I love this song, by the way. Sligh starts in teh audience, all Taylor-like. He moves to a falsetto in the beginning and it's not bad. He's on the ramp behind the judges, again very Taylor-like. I generally like this performance. He's playing it straight. It's not blowing me away, but it's good. B.

Randy: He liked it. It started off a little bit rough, but he wound up good. It was a great song for him and he ended it really strong.

Paula: Started a little ahead of the pocket. Paula likes his clothes. Thought the vocals was really good.

Simon: Thought he didn't have a problem with the audience, thought he did his thing, and thought it was fun. It wasn't the best vocal heard tonight, but it was good and a lot better than last week.

Ryan's with him. Mr. RenaRF said it was good but it totally lacked soul. Chris says he's clumsy and chubby and he jabbed Simon with the mic stand when Simon grabbed it. or text 1-866-IDOLS10 or text 5710. I don't know how I missed this, but Chris is calling his fans the "Fro Patrol". Again, very Taylor. I like Chris, but he's not Taylor man.

Ok. We're back with Melinda Doolittle. British Invasion week makes her nervous. She's singing As Long As He Needs Me, a "torch song" according to Lulu. We learn that this song is out of her comfort zone - the most yet. Lulu helped her and loved it. She thinks that's the perfect song for Melinda.

I don't know this song. Melinda starts seated. She sounds very Barbara Streisand in the beginning - good, but weird to hear. She rises as the first verse moves to the second. The verses are very subdued - and I think they have to be. She's in the bridge and she gets to take it up a bit with a key change upward. It's not the big power notes you would usually want from Melinda, but at the end she brings it home with the power note. It was a very very good performance, and I love Melinda - she's my favorite - she barely edged Jordin out for me. A+.

Randy: He thought they saved the best vocal for last.

Paula: Sold the story. Great.

Simon: Are you really as nice as you seem? He thinks she is. The second part of the song was sensational with an impeccable vocal. And she really is that nice.

Ryan's with her and wants to know if this is the real her that we see - she says it is, and you believe her. Melinda is eminently believable. 1-866-IDOLS11 or text 5711.

Final Rankings:

Melinda Doolittle
Jordin Sparks
Phil Stacey
Lakisha Jones
Chris Richardson
Chris Sligh
Stephanie Edwards
Gina Glocksen
Haley Scarnato
Blake Lewis
Sanjaya Malakar

Overall, this week was MUCH better than last week. I think Haley should be a little worried, and Phil as well as Gina. I hate to put Phil there because I thought he was one of the better performances, but he doesn't necessarily click as far as I'm concerned. Predictions from me pre-results tomorrow night, then Results recap. Thanks for reading! Y'all don't comment much, but I get mad site hits from unique visitors and a fair amount of returning visitors, and I appreciate it.

Top 12 - Results Show

2007-03-14T20:00:00.000-05:00

How appropriate. Countdown with Keith Olbermann just finished a segment on the Seacrest/Cowell closet exchange. As it ended, the results show came on. Oh - and for the record, I couldn't care less if Ryan Seacrest is gay.

Ryan looks natty - dark suit, imperial purple tie, white button down. We see the judges. Yawn. We see the clips from last-night, to include the high-heels moment. At least that's interesting. We get a review of "Idols who forgot their words". I'll say - seeing Chris Sligh I agree with Simon - put the glasses back on. I think it's incredibly kind to characterize Sanjaya's performance as "putting his own twist" on a classic. Melinda gets the mega-pimp, though, and I think that that's apt. Follow after the click for more recapping!

GroupSing time. It's a Diana Ross tribute!! Shocker!! Chris R. sings through his nose. Phil sings through his eyebrows. Blake sashays. Sanjaya sings in tune (!!!). Brandon sings like.. Brandon. Chris S. sings through his glasses. All together now, boys!! Girls turn. Haley sings off key. Melinda sings like a pro. Gina sings and gets lost in the band. Lakisha sings like a pro as well. Jordin sings unremarkably. Stephanie sings... ok. All together now, girls!! Now we pair girls with boys for a cameo - sort of. All together now, add in arm movement!! Thank goodness that's over. I hate the group sings - it's so - campy. It's the only time I'm happy we go to a commercial.

And we're back for our first commercial!! It's presumably for Ford and it's got a very 70s feel. Chris Sligh is hysterical with an enormous afro!! I LOVE that. Blake actually break dances and that's kind of cool. I liked the commercial, frankly.

The 12 are seated now. To the business, Ryan tells us. Three people with lowest number of votes will join them at the center of the stage. He stands Lakisha up, and she's SAFE. Gina stands. She's SAFE. This is all moving pretty fast. Brandon's up. He's in the bottom 3. No shock there. Jordin stands. She's SAFE. Chris R. stands. He's SAFE (blows my mind - hated his performance). Melinda stands. She's totally SAFE. Phil is standing. He's in the bottom 3! Now I'm surprised. I liked Phil's performance last night. Chris S. is up. He's SAFE. Stephanie stands. She's SAFE (so much for my prediction). Blake stands. He's SAFE. Last two - Sanjaya and Haley. We'll find out AFTER THE BREAK. To kill a bit of time during the commercial, I'll say that I'm relieved either Haley or Sanjaya will be sweating it out up there. I doubt it will be Sanjaya, but who knows - maybe people came to their senses?!

We're back from the commercials. Let me say - I like ANY commercial that involves SHOES. The DSW commercials are my favorite and make me want to spend a day buying shoes. During this break it's for Off-Broadway shoes, a second-favorite shoe place of mine (I have over 100 pair of shoes - it's an addiction). Apparently we're going to make the Idols sweat while we go to the American Idol Challenge. This week, text the correct answer (it's B) to 51555. At least they actually mentioned Taylor Hicks out loud on the show this week, albeit it was during the challenge. It appears as well that we're going to have to listen to Diana Ross before we find out who rounds out the bottom 3.

Diana Ross does this total Mme Butterfly thing - she's backlit with this amazing dress that makes her look like she has sings. Good for her - she looks good frankly. She's singing More Today Than Yesterday. Honestly folks - if she weren't Diana Ross I'd be tearing her performance to shreds. I wonder if it's the theater, because her pitch is everywhere. Oh hey - I can see right through her dress!! TMI!! It's nice of her to run over the Idols and sing with each of them. I'm now waiting for this to be over. And it's over - thankfully. That was honestly painful to listen to.

And we torture four Idols by going to another commercial. Only three minutes left - they're gonna do this fast when they come back.

And we're back and we're live. Sanjaya and Haley are made to stand. Haley's safe, Sanjaya's in the bottom 3!! Another shocker.

Bottom 3:
Brandon Rogers
Phil Stacey
Sanjaya Malakar

Phil Stacey is seated. That leaves Brandon and Sanjaya. Oh I feel sick. Sick I tell you!! Nearly 28 million people voted. Brandon is the one who's going home. Another ridiculous result. While I wished Brandon had stepped up a lot earlier, he's miles better than Sanjaya Malakar. Jesus Christ. Will the VTFW guys please stop pimping Sanjaya? They're torturing that kid by keeping him around, and as MJ said on her blog, as he knocks off better people it's going to become a hate-fest direct AT HIM. Geez people - smarten up.

Top 12 - Pre-Results Prediction

2007-03-14T19:36:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about who I thought would be voted off tonight and I repeatedly come back to "Who Cares?" I'm having a difficult time getting super-psyched this season. I fear it will be another Season 4, where it was obvious it would come down to Carrie and Bo and the other ten weeks was all at the noise level. ((sigh))

Anyhoo, here ya go:

Who should go: Sanjaya Malakar
Who's in the bottom two: Brandon Rogers & Stephanie Edwards
Who will go: Stephanie Edwards

The Top 12 Perform

2007-03-13T19:20:00.000-05:00

Wow. We're back to the two hour show. That's a lot of live-blogging, folks!! But I'll do my best to keep up. I suspect that one of my regular readers, who is right now in Europe, will be checking in to see how each of the contestants did. I'm glad to fill my useful purpose. ;-)

We are teased at the beginning about the fame and fortune achieved by Idol winners and runners-up. This is annoying - we see Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood, and Fantasia Barrino - but NO TAYLOR!! AAAAGH. This "Pox on your Taylor House" thing is getting really annoying. Ryan's in the audience, behind the judges - they've moved to the big stage. The judges are front and center now, as opposed to off to the side. After the intro, there's hysterical screaming in the house. People freaking out everywhere. We are enjoined to admired the stage, and we all do. We are reminded we're there for that one superstar, and we see that not only has the venue gotten bigger, the band has gotten bigger, too!! They rock - they get their own little 10-second jam. We are told further to admire the hugeness of the audience. We do. Click to the full post to read more.

The Idol finalists are dragged out. I'll note that there was little applause for Sanjaya and Haley compared to the others. It appears Jordin is in the pimp spot tonight. Hm. And Brandon goes first - ugh. He better bring the house down. We meet the judges. Simon's in WHITE! Excellent. Ryan talks to Randy. Randy thinks the boys have to bring their game. Paula thinks there's great variety in the top 12, and she thinks the guys are ready to come into their own. Simon talks about the stage changing everyone in this new venue..

We are now to the Diana Ross pimp package. We hear about how wonderful she is and how wonderful her career has been. We hear about the wonderfulness of her solo career as a performer and an actress. We recite the laundry list of her achievements. She put the "D" in Diva, imo. She looks good as she meets the top12. Her hair is outstanding! Totally wacky! She tells the finalists she's not a critic, and reminds us that she's had a 40-year career. She is a parent deep in her heart, and she thinks that makes her a good mentor.

Brandon Rogers is up first, talking about Diana Ross. He talks about her different-breediness. Diana likes Brandon. She likes that he grew up on You Can't Hurry Love, which is presumably what Brandon will sing. Hm. She comments that she's amazed at the amount of work all the finalists have to do, and tells Brandon to go back to his "center". He does truly look awestruck.

Brandon starts center-stage, back to the audience. The beginning part of this song is kind of low, and that doesn't necessarily suit his voice. When he gets into the higher register, he's better. He's in the chorus, and I have to say - I'm not blown away and I want to be blown away. I keep waiting and waiting for Brandon to unleash his mad talent, only to wait a little more. I don't get it. OH NO - Brandon just totally flubbed on his words. It was only a teeny period of time, but it WAS obvious. Ugh. At least he picked back up and finished strong. Overall, I give the performance a C+.

Randy: This is the start of the future tonight. For him, Brandon came out like he's reverted back to a background singer. Only at the very end did he step forward.

Paula: It's not easy to do what you do, and nerves play into it. We don't need to tell you what you did wrong, and there are many things that you do right.

Simon: That was a complete letdown. It was a very predictable version, predictable arrangement, the dancing was terrible, and you came over as a background singer. No start quality. Absolutely not good enough. Sorry.

((Cringe)) Ryan's with him - Brandon felt it was going his way until he forgot the words. He tried to pick it back up. Ryan wants to know if the stage has an effect, and Brandon says it's amazing to be out here and he got caught up, enjoying it a little too much. He'll do better next time. 1-866-IDOLS01 or text 5701.

Commercial time!!

We're back sitting center stage with Melinda Doolittle. We can apparently ask the Idols questions this season. Go to the website to find out how. Melinda gets a question: What do you consider the hardest part of this contest? A: The high heels and these dresses. She likes her tennis shoes and her sweatpants. Oh this was good - Dave White's gonna have heart failure - Ryan asks if Simon has advice on the high heels. "You should know Ryan" says Simon. "Stay out of my closet" flings Ryan. "Come out" retorts Simon. Ha!!

Melinda's with La Diana. Melinda's an old-school Motown girl at heart,a nd she tells her what a big fan she is. Diana says she's heard good things about Melinda. Diana basically tells us that Melinda is believable - she gets goosebumps. Melinda gets a hug and she's on her way. She's singing Home from the Wiz. She starts on the ramp in front of the band. Melinda, I have to say, has yet to hit a bad note or deliver an unbelievable performance, and I mean that in the best way. This is no different. This is a very emotional song - if you don't convey the emotion, the song lacks. She's going through the verses to the power chorus, and she sounds great. She really comes out of her shell on that stage. She is truly a joy to watch. I give her whole performance an A.

Randy: Hard to hear him over the wild applause. It wasn't his favorite performance, but it was still really really strong. Hot. Boys 0 Girls 1.

Paula: CRYING. She's crying. She's excited for her. This is it for her (Melinda).

Simon: Melinda's crying now and Simon wants to know why. Melinda is flattered. Simon always hated the song, finds it boring, but Melinda made it fantastic. She reminds him of a young Gladys Knight.

Melinda goes to meet Ryan at the stools. Melinda is speechless. She doesn't remember being up there singing the song and can't say how she felt. Paula says she's feeling like she had an out of body experience. 1-866-IDOLS02 or text 5702.

Next up is Chris Sligh. He doesn't have a nervous bone in his body, and he remarks that he and Diana have the same hair. He's singing Endless Love. Interesting choice. Chris has changed the chords around to give it a modern feel. Diana wants him to "feel" the song to sell it.

He has definitely changed the arrangement - it's weird. I can't put my finger on it, but it's too fast for the song. I agree with La Diana - this arrangement loses the emotion. The arrangement puts me in mind of a U2 song - it's got that kind of beat. Chris sings it well, and it's not an easy song to sing, but something lacks from this performance as a result of how he approached it. I will say, though - it's different, and he tried something new. B.

Randy: The new top 12 Chris. The bad part was sounding like Coldplay. It was a bad thing to do to that song. That was a mess for him, even though he has a good voice.

Paula: That song is so recognizable and it's a beautiful love song, and you're trying ultra hard to be ultra hip and cool and you can let the melody play and listen to the lyrics and the song.

Simon: I think you murdered the arrangement - you turned a beautiful song into a complete and utter drone. It was unemotional, uninspiring, and I would keep your glasses on because I think it's you.

He's with Ryan, and he thought it was a good arrangement and he went with his gut, but he respects the judges and hopefully he'll have a better arrangement next week. or text to 1-866-IDOLS-03 or text to 5703.

We're back from commercial. We are LIVE. Ryan's in the audience. Gina Glocksen is starstruck. Gina says she's a legend. She's going to sing Love Child. Diana thinks she has incredible vocal ability. Diana reminds her to ensure she annunciates everything - the song is a story - don't leave anything out. Gina's going to take her advice and run with it.

Gina is dressed edgily. She stalks onstage during a longish intro. This is a good song choice for Gina, frankly. She sounds good while she sings it, and it's edgy enough to suit Gina's style. Gina is singing this well also - she's pronouncing all of her words. My only complaint has not to do with her singing but with the song. It spends a lot of time in a lower register which doesn't allow Gina to power through. I also would lay off some of the runs if I were Gina - it doesn't suit her as well as some other things she does. It also got a little weird at the end, with a few missed notes here and there, but nothing painfully glaring. Overall B.

Randy: It wasn't his favorite performance from her. It was pitchy in spots and he didn't feel excitement in spots from her. It was weird.

Paula: It's an exciting song, and Gina's much better than she did tonight.

Simon: It was ok. It was one of those performances you can't say much about - it wasn't terrible, it wasn't fantastic. It was the right song choice, but a little bit forgettable. A middle pack performance.

Ryan wants to know how she felt on the stage. She liked it - she felt at home. or text 1-866-IDOLS04 or text 5704.

And we're at another commercial.

1/3 down, 2/3 to go. Unfortunately Sanjaya is in that 2/3, and he's up next. ((sigh)) Such a nice kid - do I have to hear him sing? Sanjaya Malakar is with Diana Ross. Diana talks about how you just care about him. Note that she didn't lead with his great singing. Ain't No Mountain High Enough is his choice. She didn't feel he was on the beat, and so she gives him pointers. She wants him to have fun, to "get your soul in there".

They've curled hair Sanjaya's hair back up. It's girl-curly. OMG! He starts off kind of weak and soft and he's all over the place pitch wise. Honestly, folks - I wanted him to come back a different Sanjaya this week and simply blow my socks off and prove me wrong. He's not doing it. He's really not good on this performance. He's trying - you can tell - but this is what happens when you wind up with someone in the top 12 who shouldn't be there. He gets a little better as the song progresses, but not much. He spends most of it flirting with the key but never quite embracing it. Overall, it's an F. Sorry Sanjaya fans.

Randy: Randy's almost speechless. He doesn't know what to say. Dude, it wasn't very good. It really wasn't. Thank God for the background singers. It was almost unlistenable. What he looks forward to is the different hair every week.

Paula: She leads with the beauty of his soul and how sweet he is. She says he sang on pitch (!!!) and repeats Diana Ross' advice. He has to explode with his vocals.

Simon: "When you hear a wail in Beverly Hills, that is where Diana Ross is watching this show. She's going to freak when she hears this - the only similarity is the hairstyle". I don't know what that means. He asks how old he is and when he hears 17, he says Sanjaya is very brave.

Ryan wants to know what Sanjaya thinks when he gets feedback. He listens to the positive things but didn't know what Simon was talking about. Sanjaya feels like he should be here next week. Ugh. Poor deluded kid. 1-866-IDOLS05 or text 5705.

Oh man - commercial, and after, Haley. If I weren't blogging this, I could have just fast-forwarded right through both of them.

And we're back. Haley's seated with Ryan. She's got a whole Kat McPhee thing happening. She gets a viewer question: where's the craziest place you ever sang? A: here. Crazy. Intense. Bigger stage. Bigger band. People ARE speaking in the Red Room, but they're really nervous. She's with Diana and she's singing Missing You. Diana thinks she has a recording studio voice. Her voice is too much "inside", so Diana tries to bring her "out". Haley's goal is to enjoy the song and sing every word and truly mean it.

Haley Scarnato - she starts out a little imprecise. She's almost whispering through the beginning. It gets better as she gets into the verse. She hits the chorus and it's just not working for me. Too soft - too weepy, and she's making faces like she's passing a stone. Oops - she forgets her words in the arrangement. She recovers, though I can't say nicely at first. She gets into the power part of the song and it's better - better pitch-wise and volume-wise. But then she improvises and it's flat. Really really not nearly as good as others in the competition. D.

Randy: Randy wants to know if she knows what he's going to say, and Haley just nods. It was pitchy and he was surprised.

Paula: You look lovely tonight. But that's not what Haley wants to hear. Forgetting the words is never a great thing to do and the pitch was ai yi yi.

Simon: I didn't think it was that bad (Haley bursts into tears). To give her credit, she had real presence, she looked like a star, and her nerves got the better of her... If she can hold it together she may do better than he thought originally.

Ryan's with her, she's crying, and I have to say that I find her whole attitude really off-putting. Face making, whiney, ugh. She is definitely channeling McPhee, who I also didn't like. 1-866-IDOLS06 or text to 5706.

Commercial time.

We're back. Ryan's seated in the audience. The woman he's sitting next to agrees that it's emotional. Phil Stacey is up next and he genuinely kisses her ass. She likes the song Phil selected. We see Phil performing at the piano, and then he asks for her advice on how to gather himself before he performs, and she says to look at the audience.

Phil singing I'm Gonna Make You Love Me. The beginning is a little weird - it's low - he's in tune, and he's interpreting the verse well. He transitions to the chorus and this is where he can really shine. He's not screaming it, and he does a lovely job with it. He's back to the verse, and it's low again. This is where it falls off, but he compensates by putting in an appropriate run. He's on his way to the second chorus, and I'm really enjoying this. This is the best I think I've seen from Phil. A-.

Randy: Randy wants to know what he though of it - Phil thought it was good. So far Phil gets the boys award for the night.

Paula: His vocals sounded really good, but the song needed to be a little more uptempo.

Simon: He thinks the tempo was right. It was ok - it was a very good choice of song for him. He has a tendency to shout through big notes, and he has to control that. It wasn't outstanding, it wasn't awful, and it was better than last week.

Ryan's with Phil. 1-866-IDOLS07 or text to 5707.

ANOTHER commercial. Holy Cow.

Coming back, Ryan's on the side of the stage. Lakisha Jones is up next and talks about Diana Ross as a superstar. God Bless The Child is Lakisha's choice - we learn Lakisha has never performed the song before the night before. Diana gives her fashion advice, and says that she should hold the microphone and not have it in a stand. Interesting.

Lakisha is resplendent in a long dress. I'm literally mesmerized by the beginning of this song. It's sultry in a way, and of course she's singing it perfectly. There's lots of room in the arrangement to highlight her spectacular voice. The only thing I'm waiting for his a super-power section and while we're almost to the end, we're not there yet. Lakisha kind of keeps this in her lower, non-power register. While it was very good, I feel she could have made it better. It makes me wonder if she's not dealing with some voice issues. A-.

Randy: Perfect song choice for her. Love the outfit. Unbelievable vocal - she didn't overdo it. That was sensational.

Paula: Beautiful performer, beautiful girl, and her heart comes through when she sings.

Simon: You've either got it or you haven't got it - you've got it. The quality difference between she and Melinda compared to the other singers - those two are in a different league. Outstanding.

Ryan's with her. I have to agree - she and Melinda are a breed apart. Melinda admits to being a little nervous, and taks about wanting to tone it down just a little bit. 1-866-IDOLS08 or text 5708.

Commercial time.

We're back on the stools with Blake Lewis. Blake looks very stylish - zip-vest, tie, button up, suit jacket and pants. I dig it - it's a good look. He's now with Diana. He used his computer to change the song to make it his own. We see him beat-boxing with Diana. You Keep Me Hanging On is his choice. Diana thinks he brought it from the 60s to today. He hopes she really likes it.

The arrangement is definitely distinctive. In a good way - I like the overall feel of the song. I like Blake's voice generally as well. My complaint is that he's a little sloppy - he pulls just sharp or just flat. The performance was good - not a lot to say about it - his on-stage style is great. The vocal could be cleaner and crisper for me, though, frankly. I will give him snaps for taking the song and interpreting it and arranging it in a way that worked. B-.

Randy: He's a huge Blake fan. There were good things about you. You don't have to "Blakeize" every song. You sing better than that - sometimes let the classics be the classic.

Paula: There's a difference between what Blake did and what Chris S. did. She thought it was good.

Simon: Didn't get that at all. He understands why he wanted to put his own take on it, but if he heard that version in isolation on the radio, you wouldn't like it. He didn't sound as good as he has sounded, either.

Blake is with Ryan. He doesn't regret changing the song. He gets what they said about the vocals. 1-866-IDOLS09 or text 5709.

Commercial - then the last three.

We're back. Ryan's with the judges. Simon put something in his pocket - don't know what. Stephanie Edwards will be singing Love Hangover. She's in love with Diana Ross. She's singing for her. Diana wants Stephanie to have a sexy quality - start out and build on it. Diana thinks she has star quality.

Stephanie looks great - a hip retro 70's dress. She stands behind the microphone. She sounds great at the beginning of this song. She pulls a teeny bit flat on one note, but correct this. The chorus is a bit rough for me - she sounds a little nervous for the first time I've heard. She's got the mic in her hand now and is on the stage. She does the verses very well, but the choruses are rough for me. Having said that, she's still one of the best so far tonight. B.

Randy: It's been an interesting night - he references Stephanie forgetting the words a bit (I didn't notice). He found it a weird choice, and was waiting for the uptempo part to start.

Paula: Wants to know why she left out the uptempo. Great singer, but not her best performance.

Simon: Strange arrangement - teased everyone with the good part and then failed to deliver. She was outsung but Lakisha and Melinda, and it wasn't her best performance. She chose the wrong song.

Ryan wants to know how much control she had over the arrangement, and she says that she has a lot, and left out the uptempo because it was a lot of music and improvisation and she wanted to sing the melody and the verse. 1-866-IDOLS10 or text 5710.

Next up is Chris Richardson. He's with Diana, and he's singing The Boss. Chris shares that he was starstruck by Diana Ross. Chris didn't know if she liked the song or not. He's relieved when she says she liked it very much. She enjoins him to work the audience during the song. He's got to move around to sell it.

Chris slides onto the stage, he's singing and moving around. I don't really know this song, so I can't say how this compares. He seems to be singing it well, though he is also sloppy in the lower register. My complaint with Chris is that he sings through his nose a LOT. I find that really off-putting. Chris is getting a little lost in the music on this one - I can't explain it - it's like parts of the song are swallowing him up. The guys sings in key. His runs are a little rough here and there. But there he is, singing through his nose again. He's going for high falsetto notes and sometimes it works and sometimes it does. This is probably his weakest performance for me. C.

Randy: It wasn't his favorite performance - sometimes you can sing the melody without all the runs. Half good and half bad for him.

Paula: Out of all the guys he nailed the blend of bringing the contemporary to it. He did a great job.

Simon: He thought the vocals were dreadful. What pulls him through is Chris' personality and charisma. Otherwise it would be terrible.

1-866-IDOLS11 or text 5711.

We finish the show with Jordin Sparks who will sing If We Belong Together. Diana thinks she's gorgeous. Jordin has to connect to the audience and sell the song - she has to project. It's very important. Jordin has star quality, though.

Jordin starts seated. She's singing softly. It's quite beautiful and nice actually. This is a tough song - it kind of goes all over the place and modulates and she's handling it very nicely. She's on her feet for the power chorus and she's definitely powerful. He pitch is wonderful, and she's managing not to be too screamy in the high notes. I thin she's doing a really good job on this song. She did a little bit of screamy action at the end before dropping to a sweet high falsetto. Overall an A.

Randy: He's very impressed with her. He felt Jordin made it a three girl race (I don't know that I'd go there).

Paula: You're beautiful and you can sing your heart out. She drew her breath away.

Simon: It was a little bit gooey, but he totally agreed that it was a very, very good vocal. ABsolutely she's put herself in with a shot of being in the finals of the competition.

Ryan talks about how it's fun to watch her grow on the show. She's smiling, and it's obviously genuine. She seems a like a sweet girl. 1-866-IDOLS12 or text 5712.

We get the show recap. Her are my final rankings, rearranged after seeing everyone go:

Melinda Doolittle (02)
Lakisha Jones (08)
Jordin Sparks (12)
Phil Stacey (07)
Gina Glocksen (04)
Blake Lewis (09)
Chris Sligh (03)
Brandon Rogers (01)
Stephanie Edwards (10)
Chris Richardson (11)
Haley Scarnato (06)
Sanjaya Malakar (05)

Tomorrow night one goes home. If there's justice, it will be Sanjaya. I fear Brandon could be at risk as well, though, because of his middle-of-the-pack performance and his starting first for the night. It would be ridiculous to have Brandon leave and Sanjaya stay. Come on America - get it right this week.

Oh Antonella.

2007-03-10T11:18:00.000-05:00

Ever wonder what fallen Idols have to look forward to? Well, it appears that Antonella's offers have nothing to do with her singing ability.

From The Post Chronicle:

"Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis invited Barba to join his company, offering her $250,000 to host an upcoming video release from the franchise.

Also, adult film purveyor SugarDVD offered Barba $500,000 to become the company's celebrity person. "We have set aside money for the right opportunity and we feel like this is it," SugarDVD said in a statement.

Girls Gone Wild and adult DVDs. Quite the prospect for Antonella who, while her personal choices (evidenced by the pictures) may be questionable, appears to be a smart girl. From MSNBC:

The photos capped a stressful week for Barba, who until recently had been studying architecture at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Her first performance on which viewers could vote, a rendition of Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing,” was roundly panned by the judges.

My emphasis. Antonella, go back to college. Be an architect.

Dave White's Recap from Semifinal Round 3

2007-03-09T20:37:00.000-05:00

Dave White's Idol recap is up!!! A few snippets:

And Sanjaya's hair got itself ironed by someone with an even more pronounced lady-fication agenda than Sanjaya himself. “He resembles Susan Saint James,” says my husband/partner/whatever. That man is always ready with the vintage cultural observations. You kids might need to go IMDB her to know who he's talking about. She played Rock Hudson's wife on a TV show back in the '70s.

and

Seacrest is black-turtlenecked. Retaliating for this lack of neck, Simon is wearing a dude-décolletage top, exposing the moobs he's so fond of self-examining on live television. Paula has chosen to borrow Sanjaya's wig and to begin mummifying herself, starting with the silky thingwrapped tightly around her neck. But let's get on to the singin'.

MOOOBS!!! ROFLMAO. Click through for a bit more.

Haley Scarnatoused to be a gymnast. Who is Haley Scarnato, you ask? Yeah, I don't know either. I assume she's this chick standing in front of me wearing a red halter top that was recently attacked by a steroidal BeDazzler.

Heh.

Going home = Jared “Carlton” Cotter; Meadow Soprano [Antonella Barba], whose foxiness was not enough and who now has a lucrative offer from the Girls Gone Wild guy if she chooses to accept it. No lie, either. He pitched a quarter mil her way to “host” a video. Maybe he'll let her sing too; Sabrina the Pussycat Doll is gone too, and she makes the best Alien-about-to-devour-Sigourney-Weaver face of all time as she leans in for the consoling hug from lesser talent Haley Whatserface; And finally, Sundancehead. Your brows were shaped for no good reason.

And finally,

And holy s**t [my edit to keep the language consistent with my site tags], Simon and Seacrest WENT TO AFRICA TO LOOK AT SOME POOR PEOPLE. We see them sitting in chairs while little kids sing to them. Afterward (in my daydreams, anyway, where everything is better), Simon says, “That was appalling. It was like we were at some stupid school in Africa and they brought out the kids to sing to us. Ghastly. I can't sell this.”

Results Show - 3

2007-03-08T19:55:00.000-05:00

Allrighty. Let's get to the results. My predictions were made earlier today in another post. We'll see how I did. To review, I said it would be Sundance, Phil, Sabrina and Haley going home tonight.

I'm anxious to find out what The. Biggest. Thing. EVER. is going to be. This is it, folks. We're on to the finals with 12 lucky contestants after tonight. The remaining 16 are huddled together on the smallish stage as Ryan does his schtick. Cue intro!! We're off.

We're right to the group sing and we're reminded that its live. Stuck In The Middle With You is the groupsing. Chris S, Haley, Jared, sing fromthe rails. Blake, Melinda and Stephanie solo from center stage. Now we're to the awful "all together now!" portion. Ugh. Phil gets a nice solo, though it's short. Then Chris R sings through his nose, Gina sings edgily, Brandon stalks around. Back to horrific groupsing. Jordin gets the same solo as Phil. Sabrina and Sanjaya sing together, and you can't hear Sanjaya. Lakisha sings, then Antonella points and stalks around. Sundance sings and sings well. If only he had done that Tuesday night. And it's blissfully over. Click through to get to the rest of the recap.

Seacrest chimes in. I notice he hasn't done any "6 boys and 6 girls" thing. He alludes to The. Biggest. Thing. EVER. We also learn again that Carrie Underwood will be there performing live. 37 million votes came in this week. We meet the judges, and review the performances. We are reminded handily that the boys suck WAY worse than the girls. To underscore it, we are told that the "girls came back with a vengeance". "Girl's time", Randy calls it. Oh please - must we relive Haley's hopelessly bland performance. It is funny to hear Simon tell Antonella that he just "wish you could sing better". Exactly.

We go right to the results, apparently. Isn't this an hour show? And no commercial yet? Ryan calls Lakisha and Blake to center stage. They've both made it through to the Top 12. Duh. No surprise there.

Chris Sligh is called up next, in a weird outfit I must say. It's a kind of shortish black tie and white shirt, like he's a sloppy Mormon on on mission (he's only missing the bike to complete the visual), and that's paired with jeans. He's alone - no one else joins him. Ryan wants to know if he thinks he made it - he says he "hopes" he made it. Ryan gets dramatic - "Chris, America voted... You are... NOT going to find out until after the break." Sheesh.

After the break, Chris makes it through. Double-duh. Jordin is called to the stage. She's safe and through to the final 12. 4 down, 8 to go. No shockers. Phil. Rut roh - he's one of my outed choices tonight. Phil feels nervous. He's a little worried. Phil makes it through!! I'm SO glad to be wrong on that one. I don't think one bad week should have sunk him.

Jared is center-stage next. Jared is OUT, and they do this quickly. Hm... Interesting. I definitely thought he was better than Phil this week, but overall, it's probably a good choice. Simon admonishes him to work on his vocals, and Randy tells him to stress his originality. Jared is VERY surprised and he admits it. Hm. Cocky much? He gets to sing the song people hated enough not to vote for him again, If You Really Love Me. He should keep working on his singing - he has potential - but I agree.

Commercial time. I don't usually watch the commercials, but apparently NASCAR has a race on the rings of Saturn this year. Huh.

Time for the American Idol challenge. The answer is C. Text it to 51555. I want a cut if you win. Melinda and Brandon are called to center stage. They are the two backup singers. One is markedly better than the other so far. Both go through. I knew when they called Brandon up with Melinda that he was through.

Gina and Chris R. are now in the middle of the stage. They look sick. They are both through to the next round. Ryan tries to imply that they look really friendly with each other, when Gina's boyfriend is in the audience. Bad Ryan!

We have only six people left undecided, and three slots left. We cut to Carrie Underwood's winning moment. I wasn't a huge Carrie fan just because I'm not a fan of country, but she seems like a really nice girl and a beautiful girl, so I'm happy for her success. I really like that they gave her a best new artist Grammy as well - it somehow legitimizes American Idol, because I remember all the nasty things the "mainstream" music industry said about Idol during season 1. Take that, mainstream naysayers!! Carrie's performing now. Hate the outfit, but having said that, I will say that possibly only she could it wear it that well. I always wonder what the Idol wannabes think when a past Idol performs in front of them - do they dream big dreams? See themselves where she is? It's actually kind of cool, and probably why I like this show so much.

6 people pee their pants through another commercial break, and we're reminded abut the "surprise" yet again. I suppose I should prepare to be let down.

And we're back! 25 minutes left in the show. Three places left, 6 people sitting waiting to hear. Antonella and Stephanie are called center stage. Antonella's already crying. Stephanie looks calm. ANTONELLA!! SHE'S FREAKIN OUT!!! EXCELLENT. I'm SO glad to be wrong on this one. She bursts into tears - how can she be surprised? Lost in the shuffle is the fact that Stephanie is through to the finals. She gets snaps from me for pulling it together to sing her way her out. Let the conspiracy theories ensue, folks.

And we continue: Haley and Sabrina are center stage. Sabrina is crying. Haley looks on the verge of tears. Haley just freakin' made it through with Sabrina going home. That's just beyond wrong. Ridiculously wrong. Ryan goes to Randy - he says Sabrina should be in the Top 12. America got it wrong. Sabrina handles it like a pro. I'm pretty aggravated with this one. Well, at least I can nap or get a soda or make a snack when Haley sings next week without missing anything. And honestly, it's difficult not to really dislike Haley for taking the place of someone who deserves the spot way more than she does. For the record, I voted for Sabrina. I voted for everyone but Antonella and Haley.

That leaves us going to commercial with only Sundance and Sanjaya left. The Sabrina thing was a travesty - and between Sundance and Sanjaya, there's no question - Sanjaya has sucked the most of anyone who made the semi-finals consistently. This better go right.

All right. We're back. I'm still peeved. The Sabrina thing just pisses me off. Between she and Haley, no comparison. One's theme park and the other's talent. Here's the Big. American. Idol. News. They're going to apparently join the ONE Campaign, to expose and address extreme poverty in Africa. I am TOTALLY behind this - I'm a ONE Campaign contributor. Ryan and Simon have been to Africa, and we see the clips of their trip. It's actually really cool. This is a VERY worthy cause, folks, and I'm going to link to the ONE Campaign's website frequently and encourage you to give what you can. I'm pleased to be not let down in the slightest by this. Ryan and the judges will also visit areas in America that have extreme poverty. Randy will go to Louisiana. Paula will go throughout the Mississippi basin. Simon closes with: "At the end of the day, all of us have done very well out of this show and I'm glad we can give something back." Hear hear.

Here's how it works. April 24 & 25, they'll showcase those in need. They'll be down to the top 6, and for every vote cast the sponsors will donate money to the charity. Borat and Quincy Jones will be in the 4/25 show; so will Gwen Stefani, Pink, Annie Lenox, Bono. Wow. That's pretty cool, folks.

Now back to the results. Sanjaya and Sundance come center stage. Only one goes through. They both look pretty stoic. They're going to take a break before they tell us!! Ugh.

And we're back. Sanjaya and Sundance are still standing there. They look a little sicker. And goddamnit, goddamned America put Sanjaya through. Jesus Christ on a crutch. That's ridiculous. HOW do you take Sanjaya over Sundance?? How?? Paula's speechless by the results. It's a singing competition, folks, and Sundance has been one of the finest. Simon's only explanation is that the volume must have been turned down. Paula reiterates that it's mind-boggling. Sundance smiles and says someone has to give him a job - he's looking for a job. Another wrong choice. America, sometimes you suck.

After Sundance sings, we see the package of the people who will be leaving. Ooh interesting - I forgot that Simon said, after Sundance's audition, that "I'm going to be amazed if you don't make it to the finals". I do think Simon's face showed amazement - not so much at Sundance as at Sanjaya, I think. Haley and Sanjaya must have sold their souls - that's the ONLY explanation.

Through to the finals:

Lakisha Jones
Blake Lewis
Chris Sligh
Jordin Sparks
Phil Stacey
Melinda Doolittle
Brandon Rogers
Chris Richardson
Gina Glocksen
Stephanie Edwards
Haley Scarnato
Sanjaya Malakar

OUT:

Jared Cotter
Antonella Barba
Sabrina Sloan
Sundance Head

Predictions

2007-03-08T14:31:00.000-05:00

I'll keep this short, but I want to get in the habit of making my predictions well in advance of showtime. Barring any massive revelation that restructures how many boys and how many girls go through to the finals, I'll stay with the 2 boys and 2 girls go. I'll cover who should go, and who will go.

Boys - this week was tough to call.

Who should go: Sanjaya Malakar, Sundance Head
Who will go: Sundance Head, Phil Stacey

Girls - easy to say who should go but who will go is tough as well.

Who should go: Haley Scarnato, Antonella Barba
Who will go: Haley Scarnato, Sabrina Sloan

((sigh)) See you during the Results show!

The Girls - Round 3

2007-03-07T20:12:00.000-05:00

Ok. I have just literally gulped down a bowl of Annie Chung's Miso Soup (LOVE that stuff) and am ready to live-blog tonight's episode. It's the final round before the finals for the girls, folks, as if all of America didn't already know that. Nakedella is still here, and if the spoilers MJ posted are correct, she's singing one of my FAVORITE songs and had BETTER NOT screw it up. With that, let's begin.

Seacrest does a fashion twist tonight, donning a black turtleneck (instead of a button-down) with his jeans and jacket. The turtleneck thing is a bit much - it's like a really HIGH neck on that sucker, and Ryan has it all scrunched up. We learn that no one can find Paula. How weird. And with that, we're to the American Idol fabulous computerized music and intro. They're live folks. The girls pull out all the stops to win YOUR votes. Melinda's in the pimp spot tonight. It would be better if they stuck Nakedella in the first slot, but she's 3rd. Ironically, Haley Scarnato is 4th, so I'll have uninterrupted pain. Paula made it, along with Randy and Simon. Simon's doing a light gray shirt tonight. Shocker. Actually, I like it. He's a smarmy egotist, but I think he's cute. Click the click for the rest of the show.

Presumably we're still with the "things you don't know about [insert Idol name here]" theme, and we learn that for Jordin Sparks, football is a huge part of her life. She's apparently an Arizona Cardinals fan, poor thing. She wanted to be a pro football player at one point, but singing won out.

She's singing Pat Benetar tonight. Jordin's a naturally talented girl, but I find her inconsistent and a bit sloppy in spots. This song is no different. When she's on her note, she's ON IT. But when she's off, it's glaringly obvious. Heartbreaker is the song, and anyone who ever sung a note knows that singing Pat Benetar is difficult. I find her a little overpowered by the band and background vocals in spots, but she ends VERY strong with a high high strong note. Overall, the performance was quite good, but not great.

Randy: It's weird for him. It's a different show when the girls come in. There were pitchy spots and it wasn't her best performance, but it was still dope.

Paula: She thinks she has energy and thought it was great.

Simon: He's not as enthusiastic - it's a bit manic for him and shrieky in spots, but she's done well, she shows her personality, and he thinks she'll be here next week. It wasn't her strongest performance, though.

Ryan's with Jordin, and she can feel the top 12. She's excited. 1-866-IDOLS01 or text to 5701. Jordin's cute as she scrunches down so as not to tower over shorter Ryan.

And we're back from commercial. We start in the Red Room, with Ryan on the couch flanked by Sabrina and Gina. Gina looks edgier tonight. Sabrina looks all Gloria Estefan chic. Ryan talks about the praise the girls are getting, and Gina thinks it's a blessing. Sabrina thinks everyone is nervous because they know what's at stake.

Sabrina Sloan wanted to be the next Katie Couric in high school. We see a clip of her being a high school news anchor.

Sabrina starts behind the microphone, standing center stage. I vaguely think this is a Mary J. Blige song. I don't know that Sabrina has the right voice to cop the wildly popular grammy-nominated Mary J. She sings this well, but some of the high notes are pretty tight and grating. She's better when she works some nuance to her performance - her soft spots are lovely. This song is highly stylized, and I can't say I loved it. I think she substantively hit the notes with a few minor exceptions, but the tone with which she did it was really not appealing.

Randy: Not his favorite performance, but another good solid performance. It showed her big voice, but he wished for melody.

Paula: One thing is consistent. She can sing sing sing. Her voice soars - it pierces through, and she looks beautiful.

Simon: She's a great singer, but it's lacking the emotion he sees from her main competitors, Lakisha, Melinda and Stephanie. It reminded him of a hotel resort performance. She's a great singer, bu she's got to inject personality. She'll only go so far without it. Too mechanical.

Ryan joins Sabrina, and his turtleneck is still high. Ryan wants to know if she deserves to be in the top 12, and they all agree - yes. 1-866-IDOLS02 or text 5702.

Antonella Barba has been playing the violin since she was a tiny kid. Wait - this is a segment about "things people would be surprised to learn about her" and she talks about playing the VIOLIN??? Good God. I will say also - she shows ZERO personality in her pre-song package.

She's singing Put All Your Records On, a smash hit by Corinne Bailey Rae, nominated for Song of the Year this year. It starts out and I have to say - I don't like her at all personally - but this song totally suits her. She kind of drops a run in the beginning, but finds her way again. We're at the chorus. Some of the lower register twists are sloppy for me, and she's a hair flat here and there. This is without a doubt her best performance, but I have to say - the section they chose when they chopped up the song was not vocally challenging at all. It's difficult to compare her to someone who did Mary J. and went big. This was good, though.

Randy: Good song choice. It was a nice ending, but pitchy in the middle there. He doesn't think she believes she can do it - just ok.

Paula: The right song choice for her and where she stands with her range, lower notes - she has to watch out. But it was the right song.

Simon: You've gone as far as you can go, Antonella. The reality is you're surrounded by some pretty amazing girl singers and he doesn't know how much more she can do because her voice isn't going to get any better. He feels fer her - she's taken a lot of stick in the media and she's handled herself well throughout, and she doesn't think anyone should be put through that, but he's not going to patronize - it wasn't your worst, but he has a problem because he wishes she could sing better.

Ryan's with her, and she doesn't compare herself to anyone else, and wishes the judges wouldn't compare her to anyone else. She doesn't try to be them and they don't try to be her. Simon interjects that "no they wouldn't" and takes some flak from Paula and Ryan, but then Simon says to just "get real". 1-866-IDOLS03 or text 5703.

Gotta say as they go to break - I agree with Simon, and I think it was classy to give her snaps for the whole thing in the media. But he's right - she's not the same level or caliber and if she thinks that she shouldn't be compared, she has bigger problems than soft-porn pictures on the internet. And with that, we're at a commercial.

And we're back. Ryan's center stage. American Idol is the number one show in the country and it can change lives.

Haley Scarnato was a gymnast. She did it for 10 yea rs until she dislocated her shoulder, and then she turned to singing, her true love and her passion.

She's singing a song I have literally never known. She starts out well vocally. She has asweet kind of off-broadway musical voice tonight. I have to say - this does sound like second-rate musical to me. And it's not because she's bad, because she's not singing badly at all. She's hitting her notes. But the song is obscure for me, and very high school musical where she's the best singer in the school. The ending was ridiculously weak. I can't decide which performance I disliked more - Haley's or Antonella's - I think Haley's because it was just so Godawful boring.

Randy: So an interesting song choice for him. It's who she is. It was ok. It was in tune, but had no pizzaz, no wow. No "yo".

Paula: Haley is the kind of artist that song showed. It wasn't her favorite song but she sang it well.

Simon: He thought it was horrible, just horrible - he thought it was like some terrible, ghastly high school musical performance. He realized halfway through he didn't know her name, and she hasn't made an impression.

Ryan's with Haley, after Ryan had to remind Paula that Haley's last name is Scarnato. Haley's "clocking in" and "clocking out". Her attitude is very cavalier. Simon reiterates that it's not personal, and Randy re-establishes that there's no Wow. Gotta say - didn't like Haley's attitude AT ALL. But if you want to vote for her it's 1-866-IDOLS04 or text to 5704. Not likely.

We go right to Stephanie Edwards, who has been singing since she was 3 years old in front of her parents. Her parents would ask her to sing in front of people and she would be shy and run in her room and cry.

Stephanie is a pretty girl. Again, I don't know this song - but after hearing Antonella and then Haley, the difference is striking. Stephenie is rungs above either of those girls with her first note. Now, she seems to favor this whole Beyonce kind of stylized songs, which I don't prefer, and I hope she makes it to the top 12 so I can hear her do something besides this. Oh ow - she went somewhere really far afield in that close-to-the-end run, and her last high note was a little rough for me.

Randy: A for a valiant effort. She was automatically compared to Chakha (apparently the song was by Chakha Khan) by Randy, and he can't get with it. It was just ok for him.

Paula: Darn near flawless, and watch slightly falling behind in the music. Beautiful voice and great showmanship. Commanded the stage and great job.

Simon: One of the best that Idol has. She has a tendency to go a little bit copycat, but for hi, she's done 100% enough to go into the final 12 next week.

Ryan's with Stephanie, and wants to know if she has the "yo" factor. He cautions her to pick songs where she won't be compared because Chakha "done already sung it". I hear what he's saying. 1-866-IDOLS05 or text 5705.

We're at a break.

And we're back!! We're on the fringes of the Red Room, and Ryan stalks around to get to Lakisha, who relaxes on the rails. Lakisha's ready to bring it. She hugs Ryan and she's off.

The crazy thing about Lakisha Jones is that she is terrified of animals - any animals.

She's singing Whitney this week. Only she and Melinda can cop the greats, I think. She does the verse very well and then powers her way into the chorus. She does this effortlessly. I Have Nothing is the song, btw. This is a powerful, emotional song and while she sings it utterly flawlessly in terms of her intonation and power, I do think it lacks a little of the "throw down" mentality needed to really sell it. That's my only minor criticism. She is by far and away the best of the night for me so far.

Randy: He liked that. He doesn't know if it's her best, but another great performance by the great Lakisha.

Paula: You've already made us love you and you're going to stay right here and work on being the next Idol.

Simon: What we haven't seen that she brought was passion, talent, believability - and just picking up on last week's outfit, tonight she looks beautiful.

Ryan's with her now, and her Aunt and mother are going Bugcrap Crazy in the seats. 1-866-IDOLS06 or text to 5706.

Another quick break.

It's Red Room time as we return, and there's only two girls to go. They're all throwing pillows at Ryan. It's kinda cute. He's with Gina. She's hangin' out, a little nervous. He reminds her everything's on the line.

Gina Glocksen relies on lucky charms. She has troll, who's always in her pocket, and there's pickle, which she clenched during the Green Mile. She also has a lucky pillow.

She's singing a girl rock song I don't know. She starts a teensy bit rough for me bu when she gets to the main part of the song she sounds better. The things she does that I don't like, she does consistently - she gets screamy in spots when it gets really high an powerful. I much prefer her voice when she's not doing that, frankly. I don't know this song at all and she's generally hitting the notes but it's all at the same volume - loud. She ends a little shaky - last note doesn't work at all. Despite those nits, though, I thought it was a good performance.

Randy: Finally the real Gina comes out tonight. There were some pitch problems, but he liked that this who he always thought she was.

Paula: She agrees this is who she imagined Gina to be. Watch not to oversing.

Simon: It's the first time he's seen her look comfortable, and this is what they wanted at this stage in the competition. She tended to scream the song, but he hopes she makes it through next week. He hopes the song wasn't too extreme for the audience, but she deserves to be there.

Seacrest is with her (btw, the band was Evanescence), and she comments that this was definitely her. 1-866-IDOLS07 or text 5707. I'll vote for her tonight - just because she WAS different and I would like to see her in the top 12 ahead of Antonella and Haley.

Commercial time.

We're back with my favorite singer in the competition thus far, Melinda Doolittle, workin' the pimp spot.

Melinda Doolittle shares that her friends think she's OCD, but she characterizes it as "equal opportunity". She talks about chewing one side and then the other; stepping on one crack with one foot and then the other; touching something cold with one hand and having to touch it with the other. Huh.

She's singing I'm A Woman, again with what seems to be a custom arrangement. This is where being a professional musician, I think, really pays off, because she knows how to to work an arrangement. This song is very very good and it's believable with Melinda. She's about halfway through and I'm waiting for her to unleash with something that blows my hair back - here she goes... Excellent. Didn't like it as much as last week, but still loved it.

Randy: (Crowd won't shut up) She's the hottest one of the night. She's a consummate pro. she's ready to go make a record.

Paula: So phenomenal, likeable and lovable - can't wait to see her every week. Fantastic.

Simon: "You little tiger". Heh. He thought they had a pussycat - he loved that. It's very nice that she is actually enjoying every second she's having on the show. She loves it and she should, a million percent we'll see her next week.

Seacrest is with her. 1-866-IDOLS08 or text 5708.

We recap everyone and their numbers - I will say - they picked the weakest part of Antonella's song to highlight. My final rankings:

Melinda Doolittle
Lakisha Jones
Stephanie Edwards
Sabrina Sloan
Gina Glocksen
Jordin Sparks
Antonella Barba
Haley Scarnato

I have to say - it's very close for me between Lakisha and Melinda. The are both outstanding. I From Stephanie to Jordin, I thought they were all very good tonight. Antonella and Haley were completely mediocre (though not Godawful bad) and they are the obvious weakest two (for me).

So... Tomorrow night we'll know who's out and who's in and the big TWIST or EVENT or whatever it was Ryan pimped last night. Till then, thanks for reading! And yes, Cindy, the girls were definitely better than the boys this week, too. By a long shot.

The Boys - Round 3

2007-03-06T20:02:00.000-05:00

Tonight will be the last semi-final night for the boys. We'll lose two on Thursday, and that will secure the 6 boys going to the finals. I want tonight to be full-on mayhem from the boys - I want them to BRING IT. It is with that in mind that I will be evaluating their performances.

And thus the show begins, with Ryan reminding us that there are 8 left. "Only 6 will make it into the top 12. They take the stage, YOU take control. THIS is American Idol." Cue intro. Ryan's all trashy chic with the sportcoat/jeans things happening. We meet the remaining 8. Sligh's in the pimp spot tonight, and I'm glad to see Brandon going 6th (later). We meet the judges again and Paula is looking relatively normal compared to last week. We are reminded that it's an important week - not just because we'll be getting the final 12, but because they will announce "one of the most important events in Idol history". Hm... Stay with me through the click for more live recapping.

Tonight's theme: Share Something Revealing About Yourself. Is Idol going full nude, or what?

Blake Lewis is up first (bad for him, I think). He loves improv, comedy, character acting, and he thinks Halloween is the best time of the year. We then get to see him cut over to a rednecky affectation replete with funny teeth. The character is "Jimmy Walker Blue", and he's apparently a character Blake "does". It's cute - shows a funny side, even if you yourself don't find it particularly funny.

Blake's singing Trust Your Instinct. He starts out beat boxing, sings a bit (the singing is just ok for me right there), and then he kind of talk-raps. He moves to what is presumably the chorus and it gets much better from a singing perspective. The beat boxing is back, and I have to say - it's entertaining. It's not singing, and I have a problem with that, but he seems to keep it under control just giving a little here and there. He's comfortable on stage as well, and an interesting guy to look at. Overall, this is not a jaw-dropping vocal performance, but it's a good vocal performance and it's totally unique.

Randy: Randy loves that this is the first season that there's really current artist's on the stage. He loved it - it was hot.

Paula: She didn't know the song, but she was interested. She was totally in there. It was really cool.

Simon: He didn't understand a word he sung, but he stand out in the crowd. He's an individual, and he's making it current. He'll 100% be there next week.

Ryan's with Blake, and the band, we learn, is 311. That's Blake's favorite band of all time. 1-866-IDOLS01 or text 5701. I'd vote for him.

Wow - another break this quickly in only an hour show.

We return from the break in the Red Room, and Ryan's with Sundance, Sanjaya (whose hair is quite feminine), and Jared on the couch. Sundance blames Chris Richardson for his crying jag on last week's results show. Sanjaya says he was surprised to still be here after last week's results show, but he's gotten over that. He's ready to make it into the top 12.

Sanjaya Malakar reveals that he can actually hula. Yeah, the dance. We see him doing a hula, and it's pretty decent. It's not helping the "feminine boy" thing he has going, though.

Sanjaya's singing Waiting on the World to Change - I'll tell you straight up I sing this song. It's not easy for all that it sounds lazy when Mayer does it. Sanjaya's start is rough - there are a LOT of words to this smash hit song and it's difficult to work them all in in tune if you're not used to doing it. I don't think Sanjaya is, and I think it's going to really hurt him that this song is WAY current. His pitch is totally sloppy. He goes for some interpretation and it's just musically and vocally horrific. Listen - Sanjaya's a nice kid. There's no doubt about that. But that was horrible. It wasn't just bad karaoke - it was bad drunk karaoke.

Randy: He says it was a little bit better than last week, but essentially laments that he's lost what was special about him. It wasn't that great.

Paula: She struggles for words. She blathers about the older experienced guys around him, and tells him to get out of his comfort zone and keep trying.

Simon: The good news is it wasn't as ghastly as last week. Simon knocks his hula and his hair, and reminds us that it's a singing competition and that it wasn't a very good vocal. I agree.

Ryan's with Sanjaya. Let's hope going second AND sucking wind will put him out this week. Put him out of our misery, put him out of HIS misery for God's sake. 1-866-IDOLS02 or text 5702.

Sundance Head is actually thin in real life, and he wears a fat suit on TV so that people won't recognize him in real life.

He's presumably doing some current rock song. He's kind of sing screaming his way through this one and he's having definite pitch problems. He's building into the song and while he gets better, he still is having trouble in spots, frankly. The whole performance is a bit off for me, and really rough in particular spot. It's important that he ends this well and leave people with a good impression. He does better, but not great.

Randy: What he liked about it - he had problems and pitchy spots - but he put his southern rock thing on Pearl Jam. He liked it and appreciated the try.

Paula: Midway through he put the Sundance on it and pulled it out.

Simon: Didn't like it as much as last week - lost some of your charm this week. Didn't like the song, thought it was indulgent, and didn't like it as much as last week.

Ryan and Sundance are chatting. Simon reiterates that he sounded like he shouted the whole song, and Randy interjects that Pearl Jam is kind of screamy. 1-866-IDOLS03 or text 5703.

With that, we're at a break.

And we're back. We meet Travis Tritt in the audience, and Ryan gets him to his feet. Ryan understands that Randy Jackson is producing his upcoming album, and Tritt shamelessly pimps it - The Storm. Randy interjects that it's HOT. Cross-marketing at its finest, I tell you.

Chris Richardson tells us that America would be surprised that he played football in college and that he was chunkier - his family would have called him big-boned - and today, he's 40lbs. lighter.

Chris is singing a song I can't identify just yet - I believe it's country. He's relaxing on a stool, kind of the sensitive Chris Richardson. There was a teeny pitch problem in the beginning, but he's doing ok vocally. My argument with him is that he tends to sing through his nose, producing a tone I don't find particularly appealing. This is a nice song, though, and even I recognize its melody, and I don't listen to country. He does a good job, given his voice, in trying to soften himself up with this song. The vocal was, overall, very good - but I worry that this particular song will get utterly lost in the shuffle.

Randy: Randy loves that he puts "the boys on blast". He liked it - he's switching it up. He's in it to win it.

Paula: She thinks the intonation in his voice lends itself to pop country, and he picked a good song and did a great job.

Simon: It was good - he's not jumping out of his chair. It was cutesy, but his voice was a bit nasally. He doesn't think they've heard what he can really do. It was a little timid and safe, but he sold it.

Ryan joins Chris, and busts on Simon. Simon glares. Chris did it for his grandmother. Chris lost weight by just eating right, which causes Simon to say Ryan should "stick to the singing". 1-866-IDOLS04 or text to 5704.

We're halfway through, which means we take a break.

We're back and it's Red Room time. Ryan's stalking around the Red Room this time. He lands on Jared Cotter, who is lounging by the rail. Jared does the fact thing, then Ryan gets the others to do the fact thing "for the ladies".

Jared Cotter played Division 2 college basketball. He was pretty good, but he knew he wasn't good enough to make the NBA, so he quit to be a singer.

He's singing an ALL TIME favorite song of mine, one I do in my band and one Elliott blew the doors off of last season, If You Really Love Me. The opening chorus was a little rough for me. He's on to the first verse and it gets much better because it's in a higher, better register for Jared. It's a TOUGH verse, too, and he handles it really well. We're back to the chorus and we're back to rough again. I think it's too low for Jared to control his pitch, and unfortunately, given the shortness of the arrangements, this is where he's going to have to end it. Overall, given the difficulty of the song, it was good. Good, not great.

Randy: Randy was worried, but he gave a solid performance.

Paula: He needs to work on "coloring up" the way he sings. She's referring to nuance - she doesn't want him to shout the entire song.

Simon: He knows what Paula's trying to say, because it wasn't very original. They've heard a lot of performances like this, but he's popular, and he's slightly disappointed overall because he's not hearing the "wow" factor.

Ryan's with Jared, and asks Paula if Jared belongs in the Top 12 - Paula says so far yes, and Randy says yes. They both think he has to do better, though, and I agree. 1-866-IDOLS05 or text 5705.

We will do a break, and one of either Brandon or Phil will sing a Leanne Rimes song (!!!)

And we're back!!! Three boys left!!! Phil and Brandon are about to hit the stage, presumably not at the same time. What do the guys do when the judges are so underwhelmed? Brandon says to leave it all out there. Ryan wants to know how Phil relaxes yet still puts it out there. Phil sucks up shamelessly, but then says that he thinks you have to take what they say with a grain of salt.

Brandon Rogers is a classical piano player! Wow. That's excellent. I mean - really. That's tough. He's rusty, but he loves it.

He's singing I Just Want to Celebrate, a GREAT funky song. Very old school. It's very upbeat and while his vocal is good out of the gate, I have to say that he's not moving around much for a song that's so funkily danceable. He reminds me in spots of Lenny Kravitz - I don't know why. This song is a fun song, one I love, and he sings it well, but he's not blowing my hair back. He's having more pitch problems than he should, frankly, and I'm disappointed. He should have been able to kill that song. However, it was, overall, a good performance. I just expected better.

Randy: He thought it was a good choice. It gives him more of a rock edge, but he messed up a bit at the end. It was a solid performance.

Paula: She thought it was phenomenal, and proving why he belongs on the stage.

Simon: He doesn't think he's represented himself well at this stage. He should have taken some advice from the girls, because they've chosen memorable songs. He has a horrible feeling that he made a mistake choosing the song this week.

Brandon's with Ryan. Brandon understands what Simon just says, but he had fun. He's as confident as anyone can be on getting to the Top 12. He wants to make it more than anyone knows. He would do anything - almost anything. 1-866-IDOLS06 or text 5706. Honestly - I'll vote for him because I do still think he is one of the better boys, but I'll do it grudgingly with the knowledge that others have sucked way worse than him.

Phil Stacey hasn't always been bald. He had hair, very long hair, at one time in his life. He never liked himself with short hair, so he shaved it off.

He's wearing a hat this week. Phil's singing, presumably the Leanne Rimes song. It starts out a little bit shaky with one visibly bad note, but as goes to the chorus, it gets better. He reaches for a high note and falls just flat, but then does it again a few notes later and hits the note. Good for him. He's in a wacky super-high falsetto, and he makes the transition very well. This song, though, frankly, is too freakin' high for him. He's in a position where he has to switch between his gut voice and falsetto, and he's making choices where he should switch to falsetto to stick with gut and it's not good - it's screamy.

Randy: An interesting strong choice. He's got a big old voice - the high notes are great, but the low part of the register is weird. Wasn't his best performance, but it was all right.

Paula: Agrees. Lower notes are chancy. Odd choice of song for her - not his best performance.

Simon: Genuinely didn't get it. The hat, the big eyes - it was all weird for him. The whole thing appeared very odd, it was a strange choice of song. It's been a disappointing performance from the guys this week overall. Not good enough from Phil.

Ryan's with Phil. Wants to know why Phil's staring Simon down. He loves the song, and he's glad he got to sing it in front of everyone. It's obviously not the right song since all three agreed it was wrong. If he makes it, will he squint next week? Phil says he'll let that be a surprise. 1-866-IDOLS07 or text 5707.

One left, after the break.

We're back! We see Travis Tritt again, clapping. Thursday's guest will be Carrie Underwood. One left:

Chris Sligh had short hair for a long time, and a while ago he shaved his head then decided to grow his hair out to see what it looked like, and he has these lush curls.

He's singing... I don't know what he's singing. But he's out of the gate with his big voice, his big IN TUNE voice. His voice dominates the stage during the start of this song, frankly - it's a stark difference from ANY of the boys who have sung earlier tonight. I still don't know this song, but at this point, I don't think I care. I am generally really enjoying this performance - I don't know if it's because everyone else was so mediocre-to-downright-crappy, but his is definitely the best performance of the night.

Randy: He's not sure it was his favorite song choice, but he gets the vote for prize of the night.

Paula: It wasn't her favorite performance. He's got to keep rising above, and this was kind of middle of the road.

Simon: He thought the beginning of the song was very good, but he shouted in the middle. It's not a great hooky song, but he's done enough to definitely make it through to the finals, but it's not one of his stronger. But he has potential.

Ryan's with Chris now, and it's one of Chris' favorite songs and he thinks the sentiment is universal, and he sincerely apologizes that he didn't bring it this week. I believed him. I like him. 1-866-IDOLS08 or text to 5708. Chris begs his hug from Ryan, because Ryan hugged everyone else.

We get the recap. I'll give you my summary, after the rankings:

Chris Sligh
Blake Lewis
Chris Richardson
Brandon Rogers
Sundance Head
Jared Cotter
Phil Stacey
Sanjaya Malakar

Now. Having put the rankings out there, let me say this: Chris Sligh was head and shoulders better than ANY of the boys tonight. Ranks 2-7 are all the same for me - not great, not awful, each had problems either with pitch or weirdness or shoutiness. Sanjaya was just bad, and he's worlds away from the rest of the pack. It's pretty sad when I'm just lumping six of them together in the "it didn't suck - not bad, but not great" category.

Cindy, my friend, has said all along that the girls are better and I have to say - without exception she's right. More than one of the girls will totally blow me away tomorrow night. Not one of the boys blew me away tonight. Ugh. It will be difficult to pick who goes home from the boys this week, but I'll do it on Thursday.

See you tomorrow for the girls' recap!!

Random Stuff

2007-03-06T19:24:00.000-05:00

Well. I hear that the din of the noise to get rid of Antonella Barba is getting louder and louder:

Antonella Barba Photos: Rosie O'Donnell Calls American Idol Racist
Frenchie Davis: "Idol" Double Standard?
Protesters want Frenchie reinstated

FWIW, I do think this is a ridiculous double-standard. Do you want your 13-year old daughter seeing the pictures of Antonella Barba? Idol puts itself out there as a "family" show. There's nothing family-oriented about Barba's display. Personally, if Idol weren't so sanctimonious in it's family-friendliness, I would care less. But booting Frenchie to bolster family-friendliness while keeping Barba is hypocrisy of the highest order.

Simon Cowell is on again about Taylor Hicks:

He says, "They (Abdul and Jackson) loved him. I couldn't stand him. I didn't get it. "At the end of the day you have to find a bona fide recording artist. Just because you win the show doesn't mean you will sell a lot of records. Chris is the one who sold the albums, not Taylor."

I wish he'd just sleep with Taylor and get over it already, because I can't see any other reason for him to be dissing Taylor every time he turns around. Hey Cowell - could it be because your bubble-gum pop-makeover "experts" write pure dreck that no one can stand? We'll see how Taylor does when he's out from under the 19e thumb. Like Kelly Clarkson, I suspect it will be MUCH better than he's doing now.

I'll be back later with a live show recap...

Dave White's Recap from Semifinal Round 2

2007-03-02T22:38:00.000-05:00

Click here to read Dave White's hilarious recap!

I love his stuff - Hope you enjoy it, too, but beware - no one is immune from rather biting criticism and sometimes the language is colorful. :-D A little snippet, from his review of boy's night last Tuesday:

Brandon Rogers dedicates his song to his late grandmother. He sings “Time After Time.” He starts out shaky and finally gets his footing on the chorus, going for a John Legend-ish thing, then gets all breathy and weak again. Dude is a professional backup singer and somehow seems to f**k up way more than he should. He didn't go big and the honest truth is you HAVE TO GO BIG ON THIS SHOW. Loudness is how you make dumb people remember things.

Emphasis mine. I thought that was pretty accurate. Loudness and, of course, nakedness.

Stop What You're Doing and Go Watch This.

2007-03-02T13:21:00.000-05:00

Seriously. I don't know how I missed this on the Grammy Awards a few weeks back - I must have clicked away at precisely the wrong moment. But Christina Aguilera's performance of James Brown's "Man's World" goes down absolutely as one of the top performances I have seen EVER. Go watch it - do it now.

Results Show - 2

2007-03-01T21:17:00.000-05:00

All right. Better late than never. Rehearsal is over for me, the Idol results show awaits on DVR, and I dread the re-emergence of The Pickler. Let's get right to it.

All the remaining Idols are standing together, clumped on the stage. "Who is OUT?" queries Ryan. Legs shake, lips quiver. Cut to the intro music!! Yay!! Now all the Idols are arrayed on the stairs, trailing to the stage. Oh no... They're pimping The Pickler. Ugh. We meet the judges, who are alarmingly monochromatic. Over 32 million votes were logged this week. We now run to the recaps of the performances. We hear how the guys stepped up their games. We relive some of the boy performances I loved, and many I didn't care for. Such is the nature of the Results show. It seems kind of mean to re-beat the ones you verbally beat earlier in the week. Just sayin'. Now we're on to the women, same basic idea. Relive the good, the mediocre, and the ugly. We get to hear Simon referred to as Mr. Fashion Police, which is mildly amusing. We hear the wonderful girls, and some of the really poopy girls. There's Nakedella, whom Dave White refers to as "Meadow Soprano". Heh. We get to see Nekedella mouthing off, and it's just as annoying and bitchy as the first time she did it. We end with the shining best, Melinda Doolittle. Excellent. I could listen to that OVER and OVER. Click to go to the extended entry.

But HOW did the VOTES go DOWN??!

Oh no. Horrible Group Sing. Joy To The World is the choice this week. Sundance starts it off. His hair's funny. There's Jared. His shirt's funny. Now we're at the chorus. Stephanie and Leslie handle a few solo lines. Then Chris Sligh!! And Chris Richardon!! And Nick and Sabrina! And Haley and Jordin!. Here's AJ, all solo and whatnot. And Brandon, sounding like he belongs there. I hope he's safe tonight. Lakisha belts while walking forward with Gina, who sounds good in this song. Now they're ALL ON STAGE!! Yay!! Sabrina makes Nakedella look like an amateur when they're paired. Funny. Melinda belts, they all clap, they all look hapy and perky and winnerish. Yet in under an hour four dreams will be CRUSHED underfoot.

Commercial Break time.

And. We. Are. Back. FOUR people leaving us tonight. I'm trying to do seating math and get a clue - not happening, ecept that the back row of boys looks to be safe while the front row contains most of my lowest performers. We go one by one.

Phil: SAFE!
Chris S: SAFE!
Sundance: SAFE!
Blake: SAFE!
Jared: SAFE! (They really tortured him this week)
Nick: OUT

I'm totally not surprised. I called it in my predictions, so I'm right so far, but there are three to go. Simon things he's a good singer but he didn't stand out in the crowd, and I really think he's right on this one. When I made my picks, I made them based on who I thought people would remember.

And thus continues the practice of letting booted singers sing the song that everyone hated enough to boot them. Cruel, but oddly amusing. Nick sounds good singing this, and honestly, reading into him, I think he wasn't surprised. He crawls on his knees tonight and I don't remember him doing that on Tuesday night - maybe he should have?? Now Nick walks and pimp-shakes hand with each boy Idol. I know that there are four very nervous boys left right now, though - AJ, Sanajaya, Brandon, and Chris R. Aw... Sundance is crying. :-( I guess Nick's not big enough to be a bodyguard. ;-) Commercial.

And we're back. We're reminded Nick bit the dust, and now we're to the very nervous looking girls. Ryan talks to Jordin, who's in the LAST seat (lower right) and looks like she's going to puke. One by one, with short judging recaps, here we go:

Stephanie: SAFE!
Gina: SAFE!
Sabrina: SAFE!
Melinda: SAFE!
Alaina: OUT!

Total non-shocker. It's about time, too. Put that girl out of HER misery and put her out of OUR misery. Alaina copped an attitude after getting booted, referring to Simon's comment as "clever". You get the feeling Alaina feels like she simply wasn't given a fair shake, as opposed to the fact that she doesn't measure up to the other competitors. She can't really sing while crying, and I can sympathize with that honestly. The girls come out and hug her and we hear the background singers and no Alaina singers. It looks like she's done singing. That's truly a first I think. Oh wait - she's back for the bridge and she pulls it together a bit and sings. Sort of. You'd think that NOW she would be mad enough to pull this song off, but she's too busy crying to convey a sense of fury. She's a nice girl - I'm glad I won't have to listen to her any more. Paula encourages her, adn that's it for the advice portion for the bootee. Commercial. Oh and - so far I'm still right. 2 down, 2 to go.

I wish they would stop harshing my mellow by referring to The Pickler and threatening me with her performance. Now it's the AMERICAN IDOL CHALLENGE! $10K is the prize, with a trip to Hollywood. Grand prize, $100K and tix to the finale (I went to last season's finale - it's TOTALLY worth it). The answer, folks, is B. And with that, I've voted and it's back to the recap.

OH NO. It's The Pickler. I'll admit - I couldn't stand her and her fake "GAWLEE" during last season. Did she have her boobs enlarged? She is ALL boob tonight. A giant, blonde boob. I have to be honest, folks, she looks a bit like a hooker, that you'd find in some small southern town. They do a stupid food jokes, and we'll hear a song she co-wrote (barf) called I Wonder. Can I write the lyrics? "I wonderrrrr.... Why they put this girl back on the show... I wonderrrrrr... Why they think she can sing..." Something like that. Her voice is as annoyingly cornpone as it always was, and I'm literally going to fast-forward through the rest of it. It can't get any better. DVR is a beautiful thing, because I didn't have to sit through that.

And we're back. Just enough time to clear the blood from my Pickler-bleeding ears. We are reminded that Alaina and Nick sucked enough to be booted, and that two others sucked as much as well and are gone. Front row of guys.

Chris R.: SAFE!
Brandon: SAFE! (Whew - was worried for him)
Sanjaya: SAFE!
AJ: OUT

That's just wrong. AJ just got sacrificed on the altar of the sympathy vote that Sanjaya got. Jeez Louise. Paula doesn't feel tonight reflects that this is a singing competition. Randy agrees, thought AJ was great and doesn't think America got it right. When it comes to AJ and Sanjaya I totally agree, frankly. You can't even compare the two performances. AJ sings the Last Song of Shame, and he sounds good and he looks good. Sundance is crying again, and so his Melinda.

WTF, America? Is it worth it because you feel badly for Sanjaya that you just threw this talented kid to the wolves? AJ wasn't my favorite boy, but he deserved to stick around. This annoys me, because it's the same type of mentality that will keep Antonella (Nakedella) on the show as well. This ain't high school, folks, and it's not a popularity contest - it's a singing contest. ((sigh)) Commercial. I'll just fume.

Now one more girl has got to go.

Lakisha: SAFE!
Haley: SAFE!! (Shocker?)
Antonella: SAFE! (Ridiculous)
Leslie: OUT!
Jordin: SAFE!

Damn I'm getting good at this. I missed the AJ call, but all the rest I got dead to rights. Leslie looks really upset about this and slightly pissed. Simon doesn't think the right people have gone tonight and he encourages America to vote. Leslie REALLY looks like she's going to puke. WE now get tortured with their group bootee package.

Nick, Leslie, AJ, Alaina. Daughtry angsts that he's "going home", as are our bootees. We see their meteoric rise, all while knowing that they just bit the freakin' dust. And now we're back to Leslie, who has to sing. She doesn't look any more substantively pulled together, frankly. How can you not know when you're going to tank like that and be prepared for it? She's on the verge of tears and you can hear it in her voice.

Snaps to whoever it was at MJs Big Blog who said that it would be totally ironic if AJ AND Leslie went tonight given that they did the same song. Ding ding! We have a winner. And the girls come out and join her, and that's all we got for results.

I'll post a bit over the weekend, perhaps tomorrow as well, but I'll see everyone Tuesday for the Boys! Sure hope Brandon gets a clue and redeems himself - if he doesn't, I don't see him surviving another week.

Predictions and a Blogging Note

2007-03-01T14:14:00.000-05:00

If you've been with my little blog here from the beginning, you know that I sing in a band. Well, we have another blankety-blank rehearsal tonight, 7-9:15. SO - the Results Show recap will be late. :-(

I'm gonna make my predictions. I've read some other reviews, have seen Dial Idol etc., and here's who I think SHOULD and WILL go home, based solely on the current week's performance:

Boys:

SHOULD go home: Sanjaya Malakar, Chris Richardson
WILL go home: Sanjaya Malakar, Nick Pedro (outside chance of Brandon Rogers)

Girls:

SHOULD go home: Antonella Barba, Alaina Alexander
WILL go home: Leslie Hunt, Alaina Alexander

Recap sometime after 9pm EST tonight folks. :-) Thanks for reading - and LOTS and LOTS of you are reading!!

The Girls - Round 2

2007-02-28T20:23:00.000-05:00

Allrighty!! We're back for another 90 minutes of competitive bliss with the girls tonight. I mentioned in another post that I record AI to DVR and start watching somewhere 15-30 min. in so I can fast-forward through the commercials - tonight is no different. And off we go!

Ryan's center stage, talking about the girls last week but the boys ANSWERED by THROWING IT DOWN last night. I don't know that I'd go quite that far, frankly. I caught a glimpse of Alaina Alexander - cute dress - she looked terrified. I haven't seen our favorite nude pictures girl yet - oh there she is!! I didn't recognize her wearing clothes that weren't see through. I'm sure if she'd been sitting on a toilet I would have seen her right away. For the record, AI should bag her. Fair's fair, and they got rid of Frenchie for the same type of thing. This smacks of double-standard, and it frankly pisses me off to no end. I'll do the rest of the show after the click...

We meet the judges, and Randy's especially colorful. Ryan talks about the guys with Randy - the pressure is down on the girls because of the boys last night. Paula's hair is weird. She thinks the girls are ready and they look gorgeous, as if that matters if they suck wind at singing. Simon thinks it's a problem if girls don't give themselves an identity - they must "stand out". We see the guys in the dog POUWND and we're back to the girls. We are reminded that four more will bite the dust tomorrow -- oooh.

First up is Gina Glocksen. She's dedicating her song to her boyfriend. He's been her rock throughout the whole process the last few years, and he encouraged her to keep plugging. He knew it was her year, and it turns out so far he was right. He looks like a nice guy. Awwww. She's singing How Do I Get You Alone. That dress folks - gotta go. She's a pretty girl and that doesn't do anything for her. This is a powerful song and she starts off clear and beautiful. She's going for the high part and I have to say - it's very very sloppy. OW - very very flat and she's literally screaming. Can we go back to the actual singing at the beginning of the song?? After that first verse that entire song was a painful, ear-bleeding mess. I absolutely hated it.

Randy: Thought it was a good song choice. Randy must be losing his hearing. He says it started pitchy but got BETTER (oh my God).

Paula: Reminds Gina that Carrie sang that song. Paula appears to love it as well. I don't get it.

Simon: Good choice of song. Her vocals felt forced at the end, and he's confused as to who she is at this point, and she'll never outsing the other bigger voices in the competition. He thought she was edgier.

Paula talks about the dress - frankly, poor Gina looks like a red sausage in it. NOT a good dress, and she wreaked singing that song. Abysmally bad. I totally disagree with the judges. Ryan is trying to get Gina's boyfriend to give her a ring. Weird. 1-866-IDOLS01 or text 5701.

We're back and we're in the Red room. Ryan's with Lakisha and Alaina. Lakisha is showing leg, and she hasn't paid attention to media buzz. She's nervous tonight. Alain's next - she looks nervous, and that's probably because she generally sucks.

Alaina Alexander dedicates her song to her mother, because her mother worked four jobs to help her kids. Her mother was thrilled when she made it. She's doing this to give back to her mom, and her mom loves her. Aww. She's singing Not Ready to Make Sense by the Dixie Chicks, a RIGHT NOW popular song. She's standing at the microphone. She's good enough in the verse but honestly the chorus is not very good. She's in a fast verse part now and I can't find the melody. I wonder if she can? The second chorus is so far better, but let's face it - Alaina is totally sub-par.

Randy: It started off good - the first couple bars - the chorus lost the tuning and the pitch. It was a mess for him - all over the place.

Paula: It's a hard song to sing. The pitch was a little bit off, but it wasn't as bad as Randy is saying.

Simon: You ran out of steam 3/4 of the way. You started fine, but in the middle you lost it.

Paula still thinks she's adorable and beautiful, as if that matters. So far both of the girls sucked as far as I'm concerned. Ryan's with Alaina, and she's trying. She wants to know what the judges suggest, and the judges take the opportunity to argue with each other. 1-866-IDOLS02 or text to 5702.

Lakisha Jones is dedicating her performance to her soon-to-be-90-year-old-grandmother. Her grandmother brings her walker to see her, and sees her every time. We learn Grandma is also in LUV with Ryan Seacrest!! She's singing Midnight Train To Georgia. It's a PERFECT song choice I think. She has the right balance of nuance and intonation to totally sell this song, and sell it she does. She looks good up there tonight, too. I want everyone to think about Alaina while you watch Lakisha - the difference can't even be described. It's obvious who fits and who doesn't. I was looking and I can't find a flaw in Lakisha's performance.

Randy: He loves that she flipped it up from last week - that was hot. He thought it started kinda rough but she got control right away.

Paula: She loved it.

Simon: Interesting dance at the end. She is a phenomenally good singer, but he doesn't think it's as good as last week. She didn't have that "I'm going to prove a point" attitude. She has to start acting like a big star. He doesn't like the outfit either - he found it distracting. But he thinks she's a phenomenal singer.

Ryan's with Lakisha. The judges talk clothing colors. Ryan shouts out to Grandma. 1-866-IDOLS03 or text to 5703. And we're at a commercial.

And we're back!! The girls are owning the stage tonight!! But who will YOU vote for??

Melinda Doolittle is dedicating her performance to two of her closest friends, the "gels". We see a lot of great pictures of them together and learn that one is a vocal coach and the other is a stylist. Nice friends! They made her a fashion GUIDEBOOK! That's pretty cool. She's singing My Funny Valentine. Interesting choice. This is a beautiful song that can show off her range - I'd be worried if it wasn't she or Lakisha singing it. She does some EXCELLENT, and appropriate interpretations and runs - just enough and not too much. She looks very comfortable on the stage, and the way she's singing tells the story of this song. She shows her big voice. I have to say - at this point she's beating out Lakisha for tonight's hottest performance. Everything about this performance is absolutely spot-on.

Randy: We got a competition going on right now. Melinda came out tonight to win it. She made the mark - she is the one to beat! That was hot.

Paula: For her that was just astounding - she phrased the song so beautifully and differently.

Simon: That was incredible. He thinks, for him, it was without question the best vocal throughout the competition. She has a fantastic talent and absolutely no ego - she has no idea how good she is and he doesn't think she'd change if she won. She's a breath of fresh air and it was a fantastic performance.

Melinda looks overwhelmed, now with Ryan. Ryan wants to know from the judges which enormous egos they were referencing. Simon's serious and explains further about no-talent high-ego people. He praises her further. 1-866-IDOLS04 or text to 5704. And we're at a break, and Naked Girl (aka Nakedella) will be next.

We're back. Ryan starts in the Red Room and then talks to Antonella. He wants to tknow if she's nervous, and he says yes, a little less than last week. She picked a better song this week, she thinks, one that's more "her". She has to just have fun with it.

Antonella Barba is dedicating the song to her brother Vincenzo. He's always been there for her, and he's a musician and he has inspired her. She admires him and he's what she wants to live up to. She's choking up as she talks about him. She's singing Because of You. You've got to be kidding me. This is way out of her league imo. She starts ok, then goes sharp and abruptly flat. She fakes out the high part that everyone expects her to do - it was a good compromise, but everyone in the audience is expecting the high power note. There are some rough spots in this song for me, but she does the high falsetto at the end VERY well (credit where credit is due). Overall, not painful, but not great.

Randy: You're drop dead gorgeous, that was completely the wrong song, the pitch was all over the place. She can't sing like Celine.

Paula: She thought Antonella made leaps and bounds from last week.

Simon: Very tough, Antonella. Most of the vocals just weren't good enough, an dhe thought she was worse than last week.

Antonella's with Ryan (sidenote: she should really avoid rolling her eyes when being judges). She definitely felt better this week. She slams Simon because he was "wrong about Jennifer Hudson". Bad move. They put Jennifer on AI but the audience threw her out. Antonella comes off as a bit of a bitch, frankly. 1-866-IDOLS05 or text 5705. Break time!

And we're BAAAACK! "Welcome back to the circus". Interesting.

Jordin Sparks dedicates this song to her younger brother PJ, who supports her unconditionally. They show funny face pictures, and they ARE funny and very human. It makes her want to cry to think about him and wants the same things for him. She's singing a Christina Aguilera song that I don't recognize. Her dress is very interesting - very youthful. The song starts out rough for me, but she gets to the chorus and it improves exponentially. I think she has to REALLY watch her intonation in the lower register. I think her strong high notes will overshadow those glitches, though, and she's miles apart from Antonella and Alaina at this point, but not quite where Lakisha and Melinda are. Overall it was very good.

Randy: Aw. She's crying - the piece made her emotionally. He felt she could really really sing the song - she had pitchy moments, but it was great and it's amazing tohim that she's 17 and where she is today. It wasn't her best, but still really good.

Paula: There's something about Jordin that's infectious. She's a good human being. She's a brilliant, talented girl.

Simon: He agrees with Randy, not her best - but compared to other people, it was excellent. Massive potential - 17 - great personality. She's the example for Alaina - just sing well.

Jordin's with Ryan. She was trying not to hear the dedication, but it was loud and came through her ears. Her Dad's crying, and that's sweet. 1-866-IDOLS06 or text 5706. Another break - Stephanie will join us after.

We're back and we're in the Red Room. We are reminded that tomorrow night will be a 1-hour results show with Kellie Pickler (UGH - GROAN). Ryan talks to Stephanie, who I think is beautiful. She characterizes the vibe between the contestants as friendly. Simon disagrees. Paula rolls her eyes. Stephanie will try to pour her heart and soul into the song and give it her all.

Stephanie Edwards dedicates her performance to her mom and dad, because they pushed her to audition for American Idol. She seriously didn't want to go, but they got her a hotel and they all went and were convinced she would make it. And she did, so they were right! She's singing Dangerously In Love. I love her dress - very beautiful and suits her well. She sounds very good, and this is a difficult song to sing. It's highly stylized and it moves all over the place very unpredictably, and I haven't heard her miss a beat. She's singing very well. She does a power note that was a little weird for me - totally on-key, but a little weird, as though she was on the edge of cracking. I don't care for the song but I thought she sang it very well.

Randy: She looks hot, she sang her face off, it was so much better than last week. It was a little Beyonce-light for him - Stephanie's a big singer so don't worry about copying her.

Paula: Thought it was fantastic, brilliant. She loved it.

Simon: He agrees with Paula!! He loved it. She's not just taking part in the competition - she's coming out here and putting her mark down (is that like peeing in the corner or something??).

Ryan's with Stephanie, and Randy's explaining himself further. There's general arguing. Love her earrings. Where can I get those? 1-866-IDOLS07 or text to 5707. Another flippin' break. Leslie Hunt and Haley Scarnato after the break. Yawn.

We're back on the rim of the Red Room with Leslie Hunt and Haley Scarnato. Ryan busts on Haley, reminding her that they hated her last week. She's going uptempo and is going to rock out. Leslie is also skewered with her own negative comments, and she's going to NOT flap around the stage.

Leslie Hunt is dedicating her performance to her late grandfather. Is it me, or is this girl totally not scoring on the memorable meter? It's a sweet story, because grandpa would be so proud of her and tell her to be herself. She's singing It's a New Day. Big song. She sounds very hauntingly good at the start. We're going into the vampy section and I have to say - the song is either to low or something is missing from her voice at the start of the vampy part. Her scatting is abysmal and embarrassing. She should have stuck to singing. Overall just ok.

Randy: Good to see her return to her jazzy thing but it was pitchy for him.

Paula: She's being her.

Simon He totally busts down her scatting. She's been whacked by 3 or 4 big voices before her, and she's getting lost in the competition. She's doing the best that she can, but not many will remember that performance.

Ryan's with her. I have no clue what they're talking about. 1-866-IDOLS08 or text 5708.

We're right into Haley Scarnato, and she's dedicating it to her hot boyfriend who is not good with her being away. Oops. He wants her to be happy and succeed. She talks to him on the phone, though, and she can't wait to marry him (though she did refer to him as her boyfriend). She's singing Queen of the Night. Totally unpredictable choice. It's impossible not to compare her, vocally, to Whitney Houston and she suffers by comparison, frankly She is MUCH better this week than last, however. She has some spirit and life and isn't boring me to tears. She looks a bit like she's dancing on some kind of choreography. She butchered the hell out of high run but pulls it back together for the chorus. This is definitely not a bad performance, but still only middle of the pack for me.

Randy: The only thing he never loved it because there's more background parts than lead vocal parts. It wasn't great for him, though.

Paula: Leaps and bounds better than last week, and yes it has a lot of background vocals but se was so much better.

Simon: A for effort - a little manic verging on insane at one point. Taking on a Whitney song she suffers in comparison, and he thinks she's a very vulnerable girl tonight.

Ryan's with her, and she's upset. 1-866-IDOLS09 or text 5709. Break time yet again, one performance to go.

And we're back! I'll note that the news teaser featured the nudie controversy of Nakedella.

Sabrina Sloan dedicates her performance to her grandmother, who is hilarious and cracks Sabrina up. She's been in and out of the hospital, and it's hard not to have her around. She's singing He Fills Me Up. Big ass song. She starts out beautifully. I remember being so surprised by how good she was last week. I like her less this week, but I definitely think she's a keeper. A few of the high notes were just a hair north of screechy for me - just something unpleasant about them. She's definitely among the best though.

Randy: Nice one. Big song, few pitch problems, but excellent.

Paula: Love you. You're a big contender.

Simon: Very good, but don't confuse power with shouting and she was right on the edge. He preferred her last week, but she'll be back next week.

She's with Ryan - Simon says she's definitely a player, but he wasn't jumping out of his chair. Who knew I'd agree with Simon so frequently this season? 1-866-IDOLS10 or text 5710.

My final ranking:

Melinda Doolittle
Lakisha Jones
Stephanie Edwards
Jordin Sparks
Sabrina Sloan
Leslie Hunt
Antonella Barba
Haley Scarnato
Alaina Alexander
Gina Glocksen

Pre-show tomorrow night I'll lock in my final picks to go home. The girls still kick the boys' asses, but there are very clear and definite lines between the weak girls, the good girls, and the GREAT girls with LOTS of distance separating the three groups. I definitely think Alaina will go this week, and I'm stuck between Leslie and Haley for the other spot, because neither one really connects.

So, until tomorrow, thanks for reading!

The Boys - Round 2

2007-02-27T20:15:00.000-05:00

Yay!! It's performance night!! I am SO hoping the boys had some uniquity scared into them. I know some of them have it, damnit, and I want to see them...

Ryan starts us off about how "every vote counts" and the guys are back and "this time it's personal" (??). There are the guys - looks like Phil's up first and Sundance is up last tonight. Ryan's all casual with a suit jacket and button down with jeans. He congratulates Jennifer Hudson as "our first" Oscar winner. I'm not sure it's cool for them to be taking credit for that...

The order tonight is interesting with what I consider the strong ones in the back of the order (with the exception of Phil). All the guys are ready. The girls are "scoping" the boys out. We meet the judges again. Simon looks un-stinky tonight. Randy implores the boys to be better tonight. Paula tells them to have fun, that they're celebrities now. It appears Simon and Ryan have made up, and Simon declines to comment on the boys. We are reminded that the guys WILL be performing tonight and two will go home (duh), and we are further informed that the guys are supposed to perform around the them of "people that inspired them". Hm. Keep with me after the click to hear my reviews of all the contestants as they perform.

Phil Stacey is up first. He's dedicating his performance to the Navy Band Southeast (believe me - the military bands are full of badasses). He is honored to sing for them, and they encouraged him to audition. This is a good theme, I think. Very patriotic. And he's singing Ain't Missing You. It starts out a little bit shaky, frankly. It's all kind of in a slightly lower register at the beginning. As he hits a few of the higher notes he is MUCH stronger. He gets better towards the middle, and he's markedly better in the chorus. Someone needs to teach him mic technique - he's blocking his face with his mic! He's good in the bridge, then goes to a high power note with an ok effect. Overall, I thought it was pretty safe. Not bad - just safe.

Randy: Yo - he thought he was the best last week and he had the vocals on "blast" this week. He loved it.

Paula: She loves his tone, can hear him on the radio.

Simon: He's not jumping out of his chair (boos). He thinks he's very popular, a nice guy, but has a completely unoriginal voice. He liked the end of the song, but he's not hearing anything unique. He's hearing a very, very good karaoke singer.

We're off to Ryan and Phil, and Simon chimes in he thinks Phil's not going anywhere, he'll be back next week. 1-866-IDOLS01 or text 5701. Break time.

And we're back, with Ryan in the Red Room. Ryan talks to Sundance, and Sundance heard from people that he shouldn't be so "crappy", and he's going to try to do that this week. AJ has mixed emotions - the show is unpredictable, but he thinks they were fair. He wants to redeem himself. Now Jared, who's up next, and he's going to be more adventurous.

Jared Cotter. He's dedicating the performance to his parents. His mother is the whole reason he's there - he didn't know about the audition until the day of the audition and she literally woke him and made him go. His father introduced Jared to a bunch of music, and he credits him with his talent. He's singing Let's Get It On, all time greatest make-out song. He's in a suit. He isn't mellifluous like Marvin Gaye, but his falsetto sounds good. As the song progresses, he modulates and interprets the song much better than at the beginning. He needs to watch what I consider short, ending notes at the end of verses - sloppy. If he tightens them down, he'll be much better. He kind of shouts his way out of the bridge. He looks good on stage, but I find the signing sloppy frankly. Not bad, just sloppy. I'm not overwhelmed.

Randy: He doesn't know if he took a chance, he kind of liked it, but it was pitchy in spots. He liked his "steamy" face.

Paula: She likes the "steamy" face too. She thinks Jared is a good looking guy, but he doesn't have to push that kind of song.

Simon: He's glad he made the attempt to make a statement, but it reminded him of the Love Boat. If the Love Boat had a cabaret singer, it would have been like that because it was a bit corny in spots.

Jared is now with Ryan. Ryan regales us with the things he's done to that song. 1-866-IDOLS02, text 5702. Jared poses for the ladies.

Next up is AJ Tabaldo. He's on the mom and dad bandwagon, too. They've been there for him for everything, have always instilled in him that he never give up, and he has a tenacious drive and mentality to go for what he wants. It's for them. He's singing something I don't recognize just yet - it seems similar. It starts softly. OH - I think it's I'm Feeling Good. I wouldn't put this song with a guy - I'd put it with a diva. While AJ is doing a good job, he's not very diva-esque and his performance suffers by comparison. It is a risky song though, and he's doing a reasonably good job with it. He's had the fewest pitch problems of the ones who have gone tonight. It was good. I'm not blown away, but it was good.

Randy: It was so much better than last week. It was kind of nice.

Paula: Props to the band - nice. And she things he has a real real real real real good voice.

Simon: He thought it was actually nearly very good. He absolutely did the right thing - he made himself different and stand out, and we saw his personality. He also looked comfortable doing it.

AJ's with Ryan, and Ryan wants to know if he listened last week. AJ totally agrees, and went outside of his comfort zone this week. 1-866-IDOLS03 or text 5703. Break time!

And we're back! The guys are doing their best!

Sanjaya Malakar is dedicating his song to his grandfather, who was a strong person in his life. He was always there for him, but he died when Sanjaya was 5. He wears his grandfather's wedding ring on stage for support from a higher place. He's singing Steppin' Out - he's wearing a hat. He looks good - very retro. This song suits his voice. He sounds good singing it - his voice is kind of soft, very smooth. I can't say this song is particularly challenging vocally except that it moves around a lot with notes jumping here and there in a very precise fashion. I think he sounds good, but again, this just doesn't impress me. He does get credit for taking a risk with the song. The ending is a little weak, and he looks a little scared towards the end, but not bad.

Randy: He's a nice kid, Randy likes him, but it was weird for him - like a bad high school talent show.

Paula: He sang on pitch, but he's 17 and has an old soul. He finds it odd at such a young age to do that song. After needling from Simon, she says she liked it.

Simon: He thought it was a ghastly lunch like after lunch someone's parents ask the kids to dress up and sing. It made absolutely no impact, and he doesn't get why he did that.

They want to know why he did it, and he wanted to celebrate the great years of music and dedicate it to his Grandpa. Ryan's there now, and wants to know what he thought. Sanjaya intones that he has to step it up next week. Frankly, I don't see it happening - he's too young and too green. 1-866-IDOLS04, text 5704. Break time again!! The teaser - is Chris Sligh singing Trouble?? Taylor-Famous-Season 5-Trouble??!!

And we're back!! We're pimping AmericanIdol.com! And here's Chris Sligh and his crazy hair! Chris thinks he has the right song. He picked on he loves.

Chris Sligh is dedicated to his wife, Sarah. Oooh - she's pretty!! Seriously pretty!! He talks about being a struggling artist, and how she has been the one to keep him from quitting when he got really run down. He can genuinely say he'll be with her for the rest of his life. And yes - he's doing Trouble. This is going to be hard for me to review because I thought Taylor KILLED it last season. Chris sounds different than Taylor, but he's got really good nuance and interpretation to his voice. He knows when to punch and when to pull back, and he has good mic technique (it matters). I think his vocal is strong, frankly, and it shows off his voice. He's singing right to his wife, which is also nice. This is a different arrangement from Taylor's, and it lets him finish strong. I really liked it.

Randy: Good to see Chris return. He was good last week, and this week was even better. He liked it.

Paula: She liked it too! She wants him to watch his pitch and timing a bit, but he's awesome.

Simon: They put him through because he's a very good singer and tonight he's a very good singer. Simon like it. Excellent!

Ryan references Taylor, and Chris talks about doing it a bit differently, and he hoped people liked it. 1-866-IDOLS05, text 5705. Commercial AGAIN, and we are led to believe Nick will do Fever after the break.

We're back, and we're halfway through. We are reminded that the guys are singing tonight, girls tomorrow. Duh.

Nick Pedro is dedicating it to his girlfriend Caitlin, and she's also a pretty girl. She's been supportive and understanding, and that means a lot to him. He's singing Fever. I think this song suits his voice. Again, he's got that wispy kind of crooner thing happening. He sounds good - his voice is smooth and his timing is very good. He does some things with the song, but not too much so as to make it a parody, which is always a risk with a standard like this. I'm not so sure I'm hearing the kind of bite I would like on the high notes, though. Simon's snapping along - is that good? He does this weird interpretive jazz-kind of thing that does NOT work towards the end, but then he gets it back. He should have stuck with the melody, because that was the only weird part to the whole thing. It was good - not great, but good.

Randy: He thinks it's cool that so far everyone has come back and done better this week. Nick returned to his roots - pitchy in spots and he has to watch his timing, but it was nice.

Paula: She likes the crooner thing, too. Just let go and go for it.

Simon: He thought it was good, but if you're going to attempt to pull that song off, it's about charisma, and he lacked charisma. He has a good voice, but there's a charisma issue to deal with.

Ryan's with Nick, and Nick's outfit is all wrong and Simon's not a stylist. We switch to Caitlin, who is there in the audience. 1-866-IDOLS06 or text 5706. Nick gets in a "vote for Pedro" as Ryan's giving the numbers, which is funny and very inside for Napoleon Dynamiters. ;-) Another break! And Blake will be doing Jamiroquai - wow. I saw on his profile that he loved Jamiroquai, and this should be interesting.

And we're back!! Just four left to go. We're in the Red Room. Blake agrees the girls are very good, and that they made him step up his game.

Blake Lewis is dedicating his performance to his parents. His dad is the hardest working man he knows, and gave him the work ethic he has. His mom gives him all his talent, and we learn she plays guitar. His parents are excited for him, and they should be. Virtual Insanity is his choice. The start is ROUGH - it's almost like he couldn't find his key but he corrects it quickly. He handles the pre-chorus bridge well, and it's a tricky part. The chorus is a little rough. He beat boxes the next verse, and that's pretty cool. But the second chorus is rough - he's WAY sharp. His pitch is everywhere tonight. Damnit, I like this guy, but that was not good.

Randy: Randy loved it. I'm shocked. I mean seriously - shocked.

Paula: She thought he made a smart choice, and she loved it.

Simon: He disagrees with Randy and Paula. He thought Blake was terrific last week, but this week the first part was copycat, the middle section was great, and the last part his tuning went. I have to say, I'm with Simon on this one.

Blake's with Ryan, and wants to know what Simon thought he copied. They're all arguing, etc. I think/hope Blake will survive, but this was not a good performance. Onward and upward to other things next week, I say. Blake talks about vocal entendre (?) and we get the numbers. 1-866-IDOLS07 or text to 5707. We're at another break, with Brandon Rogers after it.

We're back and we're in the Red Room. Ryan's talking to Brandon and Chris. Chris is going with uptempo, and Brandon is going with a tortured song choice (is it too slow??!).

Brandon Rogers dedicates his song to his grandmother. She always wanted him to succeed, always encouraged him, and wanted him to bloom. She's be proud of him in the competition and his life, and he dedicates it to her. He chooses Time After Time. Interesting. This is hard song, and I can't remember a guy performing it. He sounds good at the beginning, which is kind of low. The chorus is not as strong as I would like, but he handles it well and he impresses me with the really high run in the chorus. He comes back to the verse nicely, which is hard from the high chorus. I liked it, but I'm waiting for Brandon to blow my socks off. I know he can.

Randy: He liked the sentiment, and he thought the song spoke to it, but he didn't think it did enough vocally to show what Brandon has. Boring for him. Brandon interjects - he was trying to feel and put himself into it, and it didn't need extra.

Paula: She felt his heart. He has a beautiful voice.

Simon: He wants to take it back to a singing show. Simon loves grandmas. Randy's absolutely right. Brandon has to come out when he's as talented as he is and make a wow impact. I agree with that as well. Brandon talks about next week, and Simon says he keeps saying that and he's a good singer.

Ryan's with Brandon, and Brandon had to walk out with his ears covered during the package so he wouldn't cry. It's his Dad's birthday, and he sends a shout out. Simon is a turd and says his mom's birthday is in November so happy birthday. 1-866-IDOLS08 and text 5708.

Chris Richardson is dedicating his performance to his grandma, his "big momma", back home in Virginia. She's awesome - spunky and energetic, and everything about her is great. She's opinionated, and if she doesn't like a song or how he looks, she tells him. She's at home watching, but she's supporting him 110%. He's doing a song he mentioned earlier that I can't remember the name of. It's weird but uptempo. This is kind of rap hip-hop song. I don't know it, and I guess he's on pitch, but it's a bit too Justin Timberlake for me. Also, he has kind of an acid edge to his voice, like he tightens his throat while he goes for things and it squeezes the note itself. He's much better at the high spots. I guess it was good. It was definitely original.

Randy: He thinks Chris is in it to win it. He thought it was hot, hotter than the original.

Paula: She loves that he dedicated THAT song to his Grandmother.

Simon: He thought Chris was the best tonight by a mile.

I gotta say - I disagree. I don't know if it's his tone or the style or WHAT, but he's middle of the pack for me tonight. 1-866-IDOLS09 or text 5709. One more break and Sundance closes the show.

Sundance Head will close the show. He dedicates his song to his 2 1/2 month old Levi. He didn't think he'd get this far in the competition, and being away from his son is hard. He almost cries when he talks about his wife telling him Levi is starting to smile. He wants Levi to have a good shot at life. Mustang Sally is his choice. This may be smart from an audience perspective - it's one of the most recognizable songs by everybody everywhere. He's doing a strong band version and has started with the chorus, which is interesting. The audience claps. He's in tune and not red at all. He goes into the verse. He's showing off his big voice with great effect I think, but the problem with this song is that it is dreadfully repetitive. He puts hair on everyone's chest by hitting a WAY HIGH note and doing strongly and well. And we're to the chorus outros, and that's it. It was good, and it will probably be popular.

Randy: Wow! What a difference a week makes - welcome back Sundance. Randy clearly loved it.

Paula: He's got to bring it like that every week and she loved his range.

Simon: He's glad they've got the Sundance back that they really liked. Simon brings up the popularity of the song, and thought he did great, but he can do a lot better.

Ryan's with Sundance, and Sundance feels good. He's glad he got out of the "box" he's been in since the LA audition. 1-866-IDOLS10 or text 5710.

We review everyone's performances and their voting etc.

Here are final rankings:

Chris Sligh
Sundance Head
AJ Tabaldo
Phil Stacey
Brandon Rogers
Nick Pedro
Jared Cotter
Blake Lewis
Chris Richardson
Sanjaya Malakar

Now I don't believe for a second that Chris is going home, despite the fact that he was one of my least favorite of the night. I think poor Sanjaya will go home (and he really should - he's not ready for this), and I'd guess either Nick or AJ, possibly Brandon could be in that second slot. I'm basing this solely on the "grab" factor. If it was my choice, it would probably be Nick. He just doesn't do it for me.

So that's what I've got - see you tomorrow night for the girls!

Worth Watching

2007-02-26T16:34:00.000-05:00

The inimitable Gray Charles highlighted and continues to highlight great music. Some of it's new, some of it's old. I'd like to steal that tradition (when appropriate). When I saw Corinne Bailey Rae, John Legend, and John Mayer perform together at the 2007 Grammy Awards, I had hope for our musical future. It's worth a watch.

Antonella Barba - Naked Pictures?

2007-02-26T09:31:00.000-05:00

Well. It appears Antonella Barba, the 20-year old New Jersey native whom we first met during audition week as she walked the beach in a bikini with best friend Amanda has pulled a Frenchie. According to EW Online:

The naughty photos of the 20-year-old contestant began circulating around
the Internet earlier this week. Despite less-than-stellar reviews from the
judges for her off-key rendition of ''I Don't Want to Miss a Thing'' this week,
Barbara somehow squeaked through to next round of the competition on Thursday's show.

--snip--

Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe says he has not seen any of the Internet
pictures, and only learned of the sexually explicit shots from EW. ''We have
really good background checks on everybody, and we deal with that every
season,'' he says. ''It's sad, isn't it, that your best friends are the ones
that come forward with information that will go to Smoking Gun or put your
photographs on the web?''

Sad or not, Idol established the precedent with Frenchie that naked pictures of contestants is a no-no. Added to that negative is the fact that her first live performance was simply frightful - off-key, weak, and bad. Yet her appearance (imo) is what saved her from elimination. Could it be that the appearance is more than what Idol bargained for, and will they boot her? I hope so if all of this proves to be true. Fair is fair.

Dave White's Recap from Semifinal Round 1

2007-02-23T22:06:00.000-05:00

Excellent. Dave White's recap of the first competition of the semi-final rounds is up and available.

Dave White - "I don't like you tonight"

I'm way tired - so no excerpts tonight. I haven't even had a chance to read it yet - but I'll do so tomorrow. Enjoy!

You MUST Read Dave White's AI Recaps.

2007-02-23T16:25:00.000-05:00

Dave White posts an American Idol recap every Friday following the week's activities. It is published at The Advocate online and believe me - it's worth reading. If you DO, however, have a particular favorite or someone that you just can't STAND to see mocked, be forewarned - Dave White is an equal opportunity offender and no particular contestant is off-limits.

Click to the full post - while I generally keep the language on this particular blog clean (as opposed to on other blogs and in real life - I'm not making this up), some of Dave White's language is colorful, so consider yourselves warned.

Here are a few snippets from his most recent article which recapped the two days of Hollywood rounds:

Cut to the following groups:
1. A happy cluster of boys that includes Chubby Little Hands Chris, the one who wants to make David Hasselhoff cry. He is joined by Beatbox Boyand some other guys. They are doing dopey choreography and the cameramen are laughing at them.
2. A troubled group that includes Bailey Brown from Krum, Amanda the Mean Girl, and her best friend, Meadow Soprano. They can’t decide on a song and they’re all pouting. I want the cameras to just stick with this group. I can’t get enough of that My Super Sweet 16 bullshit entitlement and awfulness.
3. Perla and Gina’s group. Perla is a bad harmonizer, not a team player, which means that even if she’s cut—and she will be—she’ll go far in life.
Amanda Mean is exhausted after several grueling minutes of rehearsal and needs to go flirt with boys. She leaves her group to go attempt some seduction moves on several young and possibly gay men.

Heh. More:

Lakisha Jones makes it through. She’s a big girl with a big voice and a big wig. And yes, I know it’s a gay cliché to be all about the big African-American girl who sings like a thunderstorm and gives off that whole “and you, and you, and you, you’re gonna love me” thing, but I’m already really into her and I refuse to apologize for that.
Amy Krebs, whose family obviously invented all those Krebstar products on The Adventures of Pete & Pete, is going through.
And then come the final four. Two men and two women. Of each pair, only one will exit Thunderdome alive.
Marisa Something Who Cries a Lot versus Meadow Soprano: Obviously the horse’s head in Paula’s bed worked because Meadow’s through to the next round. The crazy swirl of emotions explodes as the Elevator of Doom descends back to the bottom floor. Meadow Soprano pats Marisa on the back. Marisa jerks away with a very nicely played “don’t TOUCH me” move, sobbing, “How did this happen?” as she crouches to possibly vomit in the corner of the elevator.
Meadow Soprano says, “Some of the best people here get eliminated!” (Subtext: “Well, not me, thank God, but some of the other best people, like you, for example, who were better than me, but life’s just weird, huh?”)
Finally,it’s Tommy Who Used to Have a Big Afro and Now Has a Jheri Curl and Sundancehead. Tommy is big and still very cute. Sundancehead is short. Like really short. Like Dio short. Like wearing a big red pointy hat and living in your garden short. I didn’t notice this until just now. But there it is. And in spite of all evidence to the contrary, Sundancehead makes it on through. Tommy flips off the camera with both hands. Sundancehead, sensitive soul that he is, says, “If I do make it big, I’ll make you my bodyguard.”

When Dave White posts, I'll post a link. I think it's hysterical. Time permitting, I'll provide a few quotes from the linked article.

Results Show - 1

2007-02-22T20:01:00.000-05:00

Ok! I'm back in the saddle. I'm all caught up with the performances and I'm ready for the results show. Here's who I think is going tonight:

Nicole Tranquillo
Amy Krebs
Nick Pedro
Paul Kim

With the girls I think my bottom two match those that will go. With the boys, though, my bottom two are different from who I think will go. So with that, make the click to the full post and I'll cover the first Results Show!

All 24 of them are lumped on stage, all smiling. I suspect a few will NOT be smiling soon enough. Not just the four who go, but whomever they single out to be in that bottom "group" as well. Now they've run and moved to the stairs. They're a veritable hoard. 32 million votes were tabulated. We meet the judges, and Simon doesn't seem like he wants to kill Ryan, though I wonder these days. I vote that they're not very friendly these days.

We start by busting on the boys. That's this week's theme: The Boys Suck and The Girls Don't. We find out that Diana Ross, John Bon Jovi, Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, Tony Bennett, Martina McBride, some peeps from Herman's Hermits, and Barry Gibb will all be Top 12 Coaches. No Michael Jackson!! Yay!!

Now we're to the performance recaps, guys first, then girls. We are reminded that Randy thought the boys started way ahead of the girls during Hollywood week, and we're smacked back to this week and The Boys Suck and The Girls Don't. We see Stephanie, Melinda, Leslie, Sabrina singing and chatting from last night. We see the "they took on Celine" girls - Gina and Haley. Jordin and Nicole are highlighted for showing their "soulful sides" (someone save me from hearing Nicole again - God she sucked). Now we're to the Bad Girls - Antonella, Amy and Alaina. For some reason also we're reminded that Ryan took some of Simon's comments personally. We finish with Lakesha as the high point of the night. While she was great, I really think they're giving Melinda short shrift. Not to mention Sabrina.

Back to Ryan, and he introduces the WORST part of AI, the dreaded Group Sing. They're doing a Tears for Fears tune, Sowing the Seeds of Love. Odd choice. We start with Phil - he sounds good! Then to Rudy, Sundance and Blake, all of whom sound good. We flip to Amy, Stephanie, and then back to Brandon, Paul, Chris S., and AJ. Chorus - all together now!! Jordin and Melinda are featured here. Now they're walking around, singing, ooh oohing in relative unison. Groups march forward, etc. Sabrina, Lakesha are featured next. Then it's to the unison BIG ENDING. Left out: Sanjaya, Nick, Jared, Chris R., Leslie, Gina, Haley, Alaina. And with that, we're to the commercial.

Back from commercial! There's Ryan, all natty in his suit. We see the guys first, and some legs are shaking, twitching nervously. Ryan wants to know how they're feeling, and Nick is NOT nervous. Chris is a little nervous about being perceived as disrespectful to Simon and he's worried it will be taken the wrong way. He professes love for Simon. Ugh.

Back row is on stage: Brandon, Sundance, Chris, Nick, Blake, Paul. We go through the reviews from the first night, boy by boy.

Brandon: SAFE.
Sundance: SAFE
Chris R: SAFE
Nick: SAFE (shocker!)
Blake: SAFE
Paul: He's OUT.

So I'm 1-2 in my predictions, and someone from the front row is going home. To further Paul's humiliation, they toss it back to the judges. Randy thinks he should find the songs that let him excel, and I agree. Paula thinks he has enough to make it, and he has a nice voice and he'd be great in the studio - he just tried to hard and picked the wrong song. So they thank him, and he's booted. He's upset - poor guy. And he has to sing! And of course, he has to sing the poor song choice that got him booted. That hurts. I have to say - he's trying to leave with class and on a high note. He wasn't among my favorites from last night, but he wasn't in my bottom, either. Sidenote! He's wearing shoes!! It's the shoe-wearing that undoubtedly did him in - he's probably not wearing his lucky underwear, either.

We're to another break while the boys on the front row poop their pants.

And we're baaaack!! We're switching it up. Time to torture the girls now. They're all ready to cry, apparently. Lakesha is nervous - go figure - but she sums it up: "You just never know". Back row of girls take the stage, reviewed one by one.

Jordin: SAFE
Stephanie: SAFE
Sabrina: SAFE
Leslie: SAFE
Melinda: SAFE
Antonella: SAFE (not that she should be, but I"m not really surprised.

So now the front row of girls is TOTALLY freaking out. Ryan mixes it up, calls Amy up and tells her she's DONE. Whoa - that was pretty rude. They want advice for Amy, and Simon reiterates that she didn't stand out. She's taking it well - I give her snaps. And now, she has to sing in a very bland and non-standy out way again. I didn't really care for that particular method of axing a girl. Kind of like throwing ice water on someone who's laying in the hot sun on the beach. She sings, and she's not a bad singer really, but she really doesn't stand out. Again. Although I have to say - tonight is better than last night. Sanjaya is crying for some reason. Probably because he's a basically nice person.

Another break. We'll be seeing Fantasia when they return, and hearing about the ALL NEW American Idol challenge.

Ok - so to summarize, I got Amy right, I got Paul right, but I got Nick wrong. 2-3. 66% with downside worst result 50%, upside 75%. Not bad! Yay me! And we're back, and Ryan tells us again who got cut and starts explaining the American Idol challenge. You have to have a cell phone, and ou have to answer some question correctly and you may win $10K and qualify you to win

The question: Of these three American Idol winners, which has a multi-platinum album entitled Breakaway? Text A for Carrie Underwood, B for Kelly Clarkson, and C for Fantasia Barrino. Text it to 51555, and it'll cost $.99 (that's 99 cents). And now Fantasia takes the stage. I think I just saw Quincy Jones in the studio?? Huh? Yep - it's him. They just featured him and gave his name. Wow. Quincy Freaking Jones!! Fantasia has a new album out, and she's going to be starring in the Broadway play The Color Purple. WOW. Quincy's producing, and he absolutely pronounces her ready for it. She's doing I'm Here from that production.

I was a fan of Fantasia's unique, powerful and consistent voice in spite of her enormous attitude during Season 3. I think post-Idol has brought her some humility, and this performance is outstanding as far as I'm concerned. I'd love to see her in that production. The judges give her a standing ovation and well they should - they did good seeing through her bluster those seasons ago.

And with that, it's commercial time.

We're back, and the five remaining girls are on the stage. So they get right to it.

Haley: SAFE
Lakesha (duh): SAFE
Gina: SAFE

And now Nicole and Alaina are huddling together.

Alaina: SAFE
Nicole: She's OUT.

3-4. Not bad - I should start betting! They got the girls right, and will hopefully weed out Haley and Alaina next week baring some stellar comeback of singing proficiency. Paula reiterates that she's a brilliant vocalist (she needs to have her ears checked). Nicole is gracious in her defeat, and manages not to cry. But now I have to hear that awful song again. She doesn't suck any less tonight than she did last night - this is a REALLY bad song for her. Her limitations show as though illuminated by a searchlight. Ugh. Make it stop!

We're back! Bottom row guys now.

Chris S.: SAFE
Phil: SAFE
Jared: SAFE
AJ: SAFE

That leaves Rudy and Sanjaya. Hm - didn't expect this. One of them is top 4 boys, the other is out. Rudy is OUT. That's SO FREAKIN' WRONG. Sorry Sanjaya fans - I think he's a nice young man but he's nowhere nearly as good as Rudy. Simon disses him again, saying he can't make a great singer out of someone who's average. Paula thinks America got it wrong.

Now we get the package of the four who were outed all lumped together. Bummer for them. Based on JUST last night's performances, I would have put four or five boys below Rudy in capability, Sanjaya being one of them.

And there you have it - show over. Rudy sings again, and claims he's going "out with a bang". He gets to sing, and that's good - they don't cut him off. And I like the song again. Don't love it, but don't hate it. He should have had a shot to redeem himself.

So here they are again, the four cut Idols:

Nicole
Amy
Rudy
Paul

See ya later folks!

Out of Order, I Review The Boys from Tue. Night

2007-02-22T07:25:00.000-05:00

You KNOW you're busy when it takes almost 48 hours to have enough time to sit down and watch what amounts to an hour of singing critiquing (with commercials and fluff removed). I wanted to be sure, however, that I got to this before the results show tonight. I have tried absolutely to avoid hearing about the boys' performances, but it was all over the judging of the girls last night and anyone who watches American Idol has been talking about what a let-down the boy's night was. So as noble as my unbiased intentions were, I'm prepared to be disappointed as I sit down to watch the recording from this past Tuesday night.

With that, I'll have at it. Follow me past the click for performance reviews.

Ryan makes the bold assertion that this season they have "the best talent yet", and with that, we're off. He welcomes everyone to the number one show in America, and talks about surviving the "weirdest audition tour EVAH". Gee, Ryan - as if we didn't already know that after having sat through UPTEEN hours of it. He makes the introductions, and here come the guys, presumably in the order in which they'll perform. We also see the ladies sitting in the "dog pound". They look relaxed. We are reminded that FOUR (count them - FOUR) will be going home on Thursday night. We then meet the judges. Yawn.

Ryan talks about how Randy's taken criticism for being harder on people this season, and Randy protests that he's just speaking the truth. Ryan then asserts that Randy must have been lying for the past five seasons. Paula just wants to be supportive (double-yawn). Simon gives the advice for the contestants to "sing well". Uh... ok.

Now we see the wonderful recap of the guys' auditions, replete with "Golden Tickets" (it's yellow paper, folks). We then see them in Hollywood Week, but we can't hear them because we're playing what sounds like the Rolling Stones over the vast majority of it. Then we see the Green Mile elevator, and we head to a break.

Rudy Cardenas is up first, and we see a recaplet of his audition. He's 28 from North Hollywood CA, and he's a professional musician (I've checked out his a capella band on MySpace - I LOVE it). We see that Simon wasn't a Rudy fan as well. Hollywood week was "crazy" for Rudy, and he doesn't much care whether or not Simon likes him.

Free Ride is his choice. He looks comfortable. It's a little weird for me - I can't tell if it's how they have him mixed, but his voice is totally overpowering the background music. He gets to a highish long-held note and I don't know - the rest has been on key, but that note was a little squirrely. I have the feeling that he's shouting his way through this song, and I suspect he has MUCH more to offer in terms of intonation than he is showing tonight. It's difficult though, because I suspect it sounds different live. Just ok for me.

Randy: A few pluses for Rudy: it's hard to go first, and he got the party started, but it was really corny for him and he could have heard it at any bar in America.

Paula: She loved it and he did a fantastic job.

Simon: References Rudy's comments that Rudy doesn't care what he says (dig!). He then laments that this wasn't unique either. They're looking for distinctive, and Rudy's performance is going to get lost in the mix tonight. I don't know about that, but it certainly didn't blow my socks off.

Ryan's with Rudy now, and Rudy is suddenly motivated to changed Simon's mind. I don't know - the song choice may have been a good one because it's a highly recognizable cross-generational party song, but I don't know that he delivered it to the level he needed. If you're going to do that song, you have to crush it, and Rudy didn't do that.

Commercial time!!

We're back, in the Red Room and Ryan's talking to Chris Sligh. Sligh lets us know that it's all about the guys looking pretty. It's weird, frankly. We're to the other Chris, and he says all the guys are awesome and that he's not nervous. He's talking now to Brandon Rogers, one of my early guy favorites. He comes off as humble, and that's usually good.

Brandon Rogers. We see his audition. He's 29 from Alta Dena CA, and he's a background singer. He talks about the judging in the audition round, and they show him thrilled with Simon's glowing assessment. We learn he felt he was on the bubble at Hollywood week, so he collected himself and gave a great performance. We then see him amking the semi-finals.

Wow - he's doing a Michael Jackson tune - Rock With You - he starts off very slow, unlike the record. He has some nice interpretation that is definitely different than Jackson's original version. He sounds good. He's making some weird runs here and there. He's basically on key, but I hear just a slight bit of flatness here an there - ever-so-slight. His voice is smooth and velvety, though, and overall I like his performance, though I'm not sure that was the best song or way to showcase what I suspect is a bigger talent than I just saw. I definitely liked him better than Rudy Cardenas as far as tonight goes. I will note also that Brandon, who's voice is not nearly as biting as Cardenas', also overpowered the band. I think it's the mix, frankly.

Randy: He doesn't know if it's his best performance - he found it a little bit pitchy and a little weird here and there. He tells him he doesn't have to do so much with the song.

Paula: She kinda sorta agrees with Randy, that he can lose the runs.

Simon: He thinks Brandon is undoubtedly a good singer, but that the song was predictable and that as it went along, it did so in a predictable way. He thinks Brandon is better than that. A passive agressive review, no doubt.

Ryan's with Brandon, and Brandon wanted to account for the idea that this first performance was going to be the toughest and that he wanted something he was really comfortable with, which makes sense. It also opens the potential that he doesn't stand out. Sometimes picking something risky, even when you may be jittery, and knocking it down counts for much more than a safe performance. Overall, though, I liked it.

Sundance Head is the next one up. We see his audition, which I recall was stellar. He's 28 from Porter, TX and he works in a machine shop. Simon was all behind him then, but we recall Hollywood week was rough for him. He was scared to death when he sang there, and he had an emotional breakdown. We see his Green Mile clip, where he made it at the last possible moment.

He's singing Knights in White Satin. Not for nothing, I hate this song. It's way old, and it wasn't enough of a song to resonate with a younger audience, imo. He's really having a difficult time singing this song, which I find surprising. It's not the right tone or tempo for his voice. He has some pitch problems early on and gets better in the higher, more powerful sections. I am, still, underwhelmed. I wanted so much more from Sundance given his first audition and this performance, while not abysmal, isn't all that good either.

Randy: He wonders why Sundance has abandoned that bluesy thing that worked for him. He thought he was all off-pitch throughout the song.

Paula: She tends to agree, and adds that it was absolutely the wrong song.

Simon: He talks about the original audition and compares it to tonight, "like Dad at a wedding". Very old-fashioned, very uninspiring, and he's lost what they loved about him in the first place. "I don't like you tonight" is how Simon closes. He also adds that if he had come into the auditions with that song, he probably wouldn't have made it.

I hope Sundance gets it together soon, because that performance was highly disappointing. If he doesn't get it together, you have to consider the possibility that his audition was absolutely the hihg point of his singing career. Ryan's now with Sundance, and the comments are brief as they clearly need to get to a commercial break, which they do.

And we're back. We are reminded that it's in OUR hands now. We are teased by a "very famous alum" coming back for the results show. And now to Paul Kim. He's 25 from San Jose CA, and he tells us that he tried out for Idol because he's getting old. They show his audition, which I remember as very good. We are reminded he doesn't wear shoes, which brings to midn the underwear thing. We see him at Hollywood week, and then him making the final 24.

He's singing George Michael's Never Gonna Dance Again. Right off it's too low for him, and he's having a bit of trouble getting n sync with the band. He goes to the chorus, which is higher, and he's better, but his big smooth voice is so far utterly absent. He goes to the bridge and it IS better. The tempo is better, and the range is better for him, I think. He goes to a high falsetto and I literally cringed. He also tries an ill-fated set of runs to come back to the chorus. NOT a good way to end what was otherwise ok.

Randy: He thought he's one of the best voices of all the contestants this year, and that the song was a poor choice. It was pitchy int he beginning, but got better. He sees a lot of potential.

Paula: Notes that he was nervous and oversang the song and he didn't find his "center". She talks about his overall talent.

Simon: He suggests Paul puts his shoes on next week. It's too muc 0 it's a singing competition. He just thought it was a very ordinary attempt/copy of George Michael. If he's going to do a song and do it the same as the original, he has to "wow" and he didn't. I agree.

Paul's with Ryan, and Ryan has his shoes and socks totally off. Ryan's feet are small! Randy reminds that they want is originality, and they don't want to see bland cover songs. Simon thinks a lot of people tried a lot harder in the beginning and now they are playing it safe, and that's a poor choice.

Chris Richardson. We see his audition, which found a little weird. I don't care for his vibrato. He's 22 from Chesapeake VA, and he works in the restaurant business. He talks about being compared to Justin Timberlake, and he takes it as a compliment because Timberlake is a well accomplished artist (!!!). His parents really supported him, and he hopes to bring charisma to the stage tonight and he wants to "rock out".

He's singing I Don't Wanna Be. This is a rock song and he doesn't have a rock voice. He's not off key specifically, but the performance is pretty amateurish, fankly. He's dancing, he's into the song, but it doesn't translate to his performance frankly. It's like a guy wearing a woman's shoe - this song does fit him at all and he IS getting kind of wandering with his pitch as the song wears on. He's really my least favorite so far, which is a shame as he a VA boy.

Randy: He feels like the show just started with Chris. It wasn't his best performance and wasn't the perfect performance for him, but he brought a little something to it.

Paula: He did a great arrangement and she liked watching Chris' Dad.

Simon: He's sorry to sound negative tonight, but he really liked him in the auditions and but thought that his voice sounded very small in the night's performance. He thought it was a bad performance, and although he likes him and knows girls will vote for him, he didn't like it. I AGREE.

He's with Ryan, and Ryan's going through the judges to get their bottom-line again. Randy's still with "not that bad", Paula's at "great", and Simon's at "not very good". For me, it was the worst performance so far among the boys.

Commercial break to "pay the bills", as if they had to any longer.

We're back in the Red Room with Nick Pedro. I wouldn't know him if he fell on me. We are warned that he may forget the lyrics because he forgets lyrics. He protests not being nervous, and Ryan exacerbates it. We see his audition. Very boy band as I recall. He's 25 from Taunton MA, and he's a salesman for a finance company. We are reminded he bowed out in Season 5 because he forgot his lyrics (!!!) and we see him going to Hollywood week. He wants to go home feeling like a winner. He seems like a nice guy.

He's singing something I don't know, and he's standing behind the mic. The song is very high and his voice is sweet. He seems on-pitch. He's a bit rough going into the bridge, but he recovers. He does a nice little bit in a high falsetto, but I have to say - the song is boring me to tears and so is his performance. It wasn't bad at all and his singing was fairly good, but man - dull as doorknobs.

Randy: Wants to know his nerves were. He's keeping it real, and says it wasn't good for him - it was really really boring and pitchy. He feels like he lost Nick. He wants to know where Sinatra Nick went.

Paula: She agrees.

Simon: He actually didn't think it was that bad. He thinks Nick lost his spark, and that he's very nervous, and he agrees that Sinatra Nick was lively and better. He didn't think his voice sounded too bad, though, and I agree.

Ryan's with Nick, and Nick hopes he'll get better each week. I hope he's back, too. I don't think he's anywhere near the talent level of some others, but he's earned another week as far as I'm concerned.

ANOTHER break.

We return with Blake Lewis. I like this guy. He's 25 from Seattle WA, and he's a musician. He beat boxes, plays guitar and sings. He really liked his group performance, and I remember it was THE standout from Hollywood week. He's going to downplay the beat boxing, through. maybe a little, but not a lot - it's a singing competition.

He's singing another song I don't know. He's sitting on a stool and he opens sounding very good. I like the tone to his voice. He modulates between soft and powerful and he does it without a noticeable hitch. As I said I don't know this song, but I think he's singing it well. Ooops - he just did a weird spot that sounded... weird. It's been his only hiccup in what was otherwise what I would consider a very good performance.

Randy: He was shocked that he came out singing a Keyne (?) song, but he liked it. He did a really good job on it!

Paula: She's really proud of him because he picked an odd song they would not have expected, and he delivered - he was cool.

Simon: Not the best vocal he ever heard in his life, but he's the first who has come out and sounded like he's in 2007. He was 100% right not to come out doing the beat boxing, and he thought he did it really really well. By far the best performance of the night. I agree.

Ryan's with him, and Blake shares that his strategy was to leave the beat boxing and show America he could sing. He's without exception my top performance so far tonight.

Ugh. Commercial.

We're back with Sanjaya Malakar. He's an undoubtedly sweet kid, but I haven't been overly impressed with him. He looks good - girls will dig his hair. He talks about his sister, and shares that she picked the song for him. He loves her, and it's always family first (I remember liking his reaction to his sister's ouster). He's 17 from Seattle WA, and he got his GED which means he's done with high school. We learn he always thought his sister was better than him. He felt like half of him was gone when his sister got cut, but it made him stronger to represent her.

He's singing a Stevie Wonder tune, an older one. I think he's nervous. His voice is sweet and he's basically on key, but he isn't punching where he needs to punch for this particular song. I almost get the idea that he is just waiting for the song to be over so he can pass out!! That said, his vocal is really quite good, especially given his age. The judging should be interesting.

Randy: He goes for the good first - and he didn't think it was very good -it's about song choice, and Sanjaya doing that one wasn't even remotely close. I didn't think it was that bad.

Paula: You have a "very nice voice", but she wishes more of his personality came through.

Simon: Goes RIGHT to the "I don't want to bore you with this" and says that it was the dreariest performance of the night. 90 seconds felt like an hour - absolutely nothing came from that for him. It was a waste of time. He can't take anything from it.

Ryan's there, fanning the flame, giving Sanjaya an opportunity to refute Simon, and he says he appreciates his honesty. Paula says that age is not a factor, but he's got to get out there and perform. I have to add - it wasn't bad and it was boring. But vocally, it wasn't bad.

OMFG. Another break. The commercial breaks really ARE ridiculous.

Ok good. We're back with Chris Sligh, one of my early top 3 boys. We are reminded of his audition, which I thought was absolutely fantastic. He's 28 from Greenville SC, and he's a marketing consultant for a leasing firm. He hates Sweet Home Alabama and hated singing it umpteen times in Birmingham. He thinks his sense of humor helps, and he's all about strategy and song choice. He loves the other folks in the competition, but only one will make it through to the end.

He's singing some song I vaguely recognize as angst rock. It's apparently a popular song because everyone knows it. And frankly, I like Chris' performance. I think he's singing wonderfully with no glitches about midway through, and he's attacking a tough song. It modulates a lot where the notes are concerned, and that's a hard thing. He's nearing the end, and I it's been quite a good performance. He didn't blow my hair back, but he's the best boy for me so far tonight, close to Blake Lewis.

Randy: He thought he rushed a little bit, but his voice was on point, and he's a Chris fan.

Paula: He strategized well. It was great.

Simon: Simon agrees his humor got him here (swipe!). He's gotten to know him and he's a fantastic personality, but he feels like he's at a weird student gig.

Ryan's with Chris, and Ryan and Simon are arguing. Chris asks Simon: the music is popular, and just because he doesn't sing the Il Devo or Tele Tubbies, doesn't mean that he's not a good singer. I don't understand the reference, but it clearly gets under Simon's skin. Simon just didn't think it was an incredible vocal performance, it's just OK. I disagree - I thought he was great. Ryan and Simon are arguing again. I don't get the joke, but man - the vibe is really harsh. Ugh.

Note to self: Figure out about Il Devo and TeleTubbies. Commercial time.

Ok. We're back to the Red Room. I'm sure it was planned, but I'm grateful Ryan's not near Simon at this point. He's with the three contestants left to go. Ryan wants to know if Jarod is nervous, and he says he's a New Yorker and he can take it. Jared Cotter is 25 and from Long Island, NY. He was a waiter, but lost his job trying out for AI. His family flew up from Florida and they were there when he got through. America hasn't seen him, so he's looking at this as a clean slate to show the public what he can do.

He's singing another song I vaguely recognize but can't name. He sounds good pitch wise, and I like the tone of his voice, but it's a very boy-band song with lots of "whoas" and "yeahs". It's a romance R&B tune and , to that end, he does it well. There's a lot of modulation to this song, and the notes jump around a lot, and he's doing a very good job vocally. I can't say I love the song and I would say that it's not necessarily safe but also not very electric. He's gone to the highest part and it get rough for the first time as he's flat on high power notes. He makes the key change well. Overall, it was good.

Randy: He thought it was pretty good, but he didn't like the way the song ended. It was pretty good.

Paula: She likes him singing more uptempo songs, and it sounded too much like Brian McKnight.

Simon: It was an unadventurous performance that he thought sounded a bit nasally, but Jared looks good. But no one is gong to wake up tomorrow AM and think "what an incredible vocal performance" and tells him he has to take a few more risks.

Jared's with Ryan and handles the criticism with a smile and promises to give his best each time.

Up next (and without a commercial!) is AJ Tabaldo. We see his audition. I don't like this guy, frankly, but I"m wiling to turn that around. He's 22 from Santa MAria CA, and he works as a supervisor for the shipping company. He's tried out 5 times, and finally made it through. H eenjoyed the first Hollywood round, because that was the round where he got cut last year, so he was thrilled to get a yes. Being top 24 is something he's been trying to do. He thinks he's a strong person.

He's singing All My Love. Right out of the gate I like him a lot a better. This is a syncopated uptempo song matched with notes that hope and skip around and he's nailing it until the chorus, when he's just slightly flat on a sustained note (weird, because that should have been easy compared to the first part of the song). He goes to a high run of falsetto which isn't the best, and unfortunately it ends on a very shaky note. Literally.

Randy: He thought it was vocally pretty good, and says that AJ is a really really good singer. He doesn't know if he brought anything new to it, but he worked it out in his own way.

Paula: AJ can definitely sing, and she thought he did a great job.

Simon: It was good - nothing great, nothing terrible, but kind of a theme park performance (that's a bit harsh). It was very predictable, though. He's got to choose a song that is a little bit more daring, but he closes by saying AJ is maybe better than he (Simon) originally thought.

Ryan's with AJ, and AJ talks about how good it feels to finally be given a chance and says he's having fun. I thought he did well, too.

LAST commercial break before the LAST performance.

Phil Stacey is our last guy of the night. I remember liking him during the audition and then loving the clips I saw of Hollywood week. Phil is 29 from Jacksonville FL and he's an active-duty Navy sailor. We are reminded that his wife had a baby while he was auditioning and he shares that it threw him off. He made it, though, and worked hard going to Hollywood week. He brought his wife and her parents and his daughters to support him. He's a likable guy.

He's singing some ballad and I have to say - he's too close to the mic to begin and it's fuzzing up his lyrics. He's got a sweet voice with a really pure clarity. The song goes from slow ballad to power rock ballad and his voice goes with it. It's strong, clear, modulated and on-key. I actually stopped typing to listen. I thought his performance was great - best of the night.

Randy: He thought it started rough, but Phil turned it around he gets the best vocal prize of the night.

Paula: The chorus was when he picked it up and it turned great!

Simon: The beginning was absolutely monstrous and it was ok at the end, but not the best vocal. For some reason he's comparing him to Chris Daughtry. Randy gets Simon to agree that it was the best that night.

Ryan's with Phil (who is bald), and Ryan makes a Brittney Spears joke. Ugh. Phil agrees with Simon and Ryan instigates that he's ignoring Randy and Paula, who threaten to rescind their glowing reviews.

To close the show, Ryan wants to know from Simon why he's being so negative. Simon doesn't believe in patronizing people, he doesn't believe in lying and he's being honest. He's not going to give positive reinforcement for the sake of being positive.

Here's where it stands for me with the guys:

1. Phil Stacey
2. Chris Sligh
3. Blake Lewis
4. Brandon Rogers
5. Jared Cotter
6. AJ Tabaldo
7. Rudy Cardenas
8. Nick Pedro
9. Paul Kim
10. Sundance Head
11. Sanjaya Malakar
12. Chris Richardson

Now this was a tough one for me. I'll note that only one of my Hollywood week top three guys made the top three tonight (Chris Sligh). Sundance Head was in my top 3 before tonight, and note that he's bottom 3 tonight with Blake Lewis moving up substantially. I thought the three I put on top tonight were stand-apart better than the nine below them. And frankly, none of the remaining nine were abysmally bad. They were just generally boring. I can't predict who will go home based on my ranking, but if I had to choose it would probably be Paul Kim and Nick Pedro. I think Chris stood out enough to survive (even though he was my least favorite) and I thin Sanjaya will survive with the cute young factor thing going.

The Girls - Round 1

2007-02-21T20:27:00.000-05:00

Ok. I'm back in action tonight. I haven't had a chance to check the boys from last night and won't likely get to that until tomorrow, so I am assiduously avoiding seeing any recaps so as not to bias my opinion. I'll be live-blogging the girls tonight replete with initial spot impressions. So here we go!

The "eyes of America" are apparently on American Idol tonight. Ryan introduces himself, which is weird because I believe everyone not living under a rock knows who he is. I"m fast-forwarding through the recap from last night (don't want to foreshadow anything for myself). I won't listen to what the judges say or hear any of their recapped performances just to keep things straight.

More after the click.

And now we're to the boys, watching the girls. And they re-introduce the girls to us. They look good! The stylists have clearly been advising them a bit. I suspect this is also the performance order. We are reminded that we are to the "America Votes" portion of the competition, and that two guys and two girls will be gone tomorrow night. We meet the judges - again, anyone not in rock-ville knows who these guys are. Ryan laments the "take a risk; stand out" mantra met by feedback that something was "too risky". I can't avoid some foreshadowing. Apparently they were rough on the boys last night. Hm... Simon agrees with Paula, and Simon smiles. It's creepy. Apparently also Chris Sligh had a "go" at Simon. Double-hm. Apparently Chris got under Simon's skin, eh? Triple-hm. Can we skip all this recapping and get to the girls? Jeezus beezus. And NOW we're recapping the girls and how they got there. One by one we see how they loved them in auditions. One by one we recap Hollywood weeks where they didn't totally love them but they liked them. One by one we see their decision after walking the "green mile". I'd be interested if I hadn't seen this just last week. Yawn. And it's a commercial, so I'll publish this and continue after the break.

A little note - I start watching American Idol half an hour into the two hour show (at the beginning, so I can forward through the commercials) so there's a bit of a lag in my post, but I'll catch up by the end.

And we're back!! Stephanie Edwards is up first. She's 19 from Savannah GA, and she's a college student. She didn't think she was going to make it when she saw the other girls. Her family is behind her, though, and that's a good thing, apparently. We see her at Hollywood week, and she reiterates that her parents encouraged her and that's why she's there. It's nice.

She's singing something I don't know. Generally, I think that that's a bad move because it's her first week in the semis and she should do something that people can recognize. She looks nice, looks comfortable. She's a good performer, and she sounds very good. She shows a lot of range and control in her voice. I had her identified as one of my top four girls, and she's showing me tht she deserves to be there. She gets on her knees for the end of the song, and it's a good touch without being too "cabaret". And with that, she wraps the song. She has to watch that last note - it was just a skosh flat. Now the judges:

Randy: He loved it. "That said it all". He agrees that it's a little pitchy, but the conviction was there.

Paula: She's knocked out. Says Stephanie is quite a performer.

Simon: Thought she was a million times better than last night and was her personal best performance. He loved the song choice (I disagree - this is America voting). He basically said she looked like she wanted to win American Idol.

Ryan notes how comfortable she was. Her voting line: 1-866-IDOLS01. Text 5701.

Amy Krebs and Leslie Hunt are up after the break and we hear they'll be doing Bonnie Raitt and Aretha Franklin.

And we're back. Amy Krebs and Leslie Hunt are in the red room on the couches around Ryan. They interview Melinda Doolittle a bit - and she talks about how the guys were amazing but the judges challenged them. Antonella is nervous after seeing the boys' feedback.

Amy Krebs is up next, and she's a little nervous. They ask her if she agreed or disagreed with the judges, and she gives a smartly political answer. We see her audition. She's 22 from Seattle WA, and she's an optometrist's assistant. We see her Hollywood audition and the snippet I saw I didn't especially like. She takes all the feedback. Simon busts on her belt at the Green Mile decision.

She does Bonnie Raitt's I can't make you love me - TOUGH song. I know - I've sung it. It seems so lazy and effortless to sing, but it really isn't. I'm pretty underwhelmed with her beginning and when she goes into a run it's PAINFULLY bad. Out of tune, weak, shaky, really not good. Now she's in the chorus, and she's getting better in spots, but when she gets improvisational and goes for runs, it's just really not good. The comparison between her and Stephanie Edwards is night and day. The judges are going to tear her up. It really sucked.

Randy: He hedging. He thought it was middle-of-the-road - I think that's highly generous. It didn't quite work. Too safe.

Paula: She's hesitant, and she agrees with Randy. They talk about her bluesy auditions (not that we saw them), and that it wasn't good.

Simon: He refers to the clip again and says he still can't remember her. She has "the personality of a candle" when she sings. She's "this thing that sings" and "two singers later I'll forget you". I have to say - she stands out for me from that performance because she was so not good.

Ryan talks to her - she agrees her personality needs to shine a bit more. Simon pipes in that even her clothes and hair are forgettable. I disagree there - she's a softly pretty young woman. It's just the singing that was awful, and this IS a singing competition. 1-866-IDOLS02, text 5702.

Leslie Hunt - 24 from Chicago IL, and she's a dog-walker. She enjoyed her audition, and though their feedback was good. I only saw her first on the very last show. She's a cute girl, looks like she could be very funny as well. She's pleased with herself that she's come this far.

Natural Woman - she better blow this out, because this is Aretha. She starts off on key, and that's good - she doesn't really have the big voice you would expect for this song. Now she's in the high parts. I like her better there - she has a nice, scratchy high register. She looks pretty as well. She's handling the bridge very well also - she improvises REALLY well in the part that would call for a higher register than I think she has. She ends strong. I thought it was good overall.

Randy: Yes yes yes, he says. He was hoping for definite greatness, but he thought the song was too big for her. He's right - she did a good job with that song, but it lacks in comparison to the original and those who have killed it before.

Paula: Thought she did a great job, but wants her to be careful about the songs she picked.

Simon: He didn't think it was great. He thought she looked embarrassed and ungainly while performing, and out of her comfort zone. I disagree with that - if anything, I think she over-emoted during the song to the point of taking away from what she was actually singing.

Ryan hears Simon - she was out of her comfort zone. 1-866-IDOLS03, text 5703. And we're to a break.

And we're back. We're reminded to vote. Sabrina Sloan is next. She's 27 from Studio City CA, and she's a professional singer. They show her singing Alicia Keyes during her audition. Simon warns her she needs the "best song in the world" to make it through Hollywood round, and apparently she delivered that.

She's singing You're No Good - another great song that requires a big voice. She starts of WAY strong. Surprisingly strong - she immediately goes to the power notes. Smart, and she delivers, which is was matter. she's got good stage presence, and she's a very exotic pretty. She's really knocking this one down, frankly. So far, for the four girls that have gone, she's my top performance I think because she WAS that good, and it was SO unexpected. I can't identify a problem in that song at all. It was phenomenal.

Randy: Well well well. He LOVED it. Says she's the one to beat and she's "hot".

Paula: Gives her a standing O.

Simon: She proved the point between taking part, and genuinely having a desire to win with talent. He thought it was the best one he's seen out of every one so far.

Ryan's with her - she's thrilled, as she should be. She didn't go with a ballad because she's watched the show for five years. 1-866-IDOLS04, text 5704. I'll be voting for her.

Antonella Barba - I liked her audition. She's 20 years old from Point Pleasant NJ, and she's a student. She talks about Hollywood week being very stressful, she lost her voice yada yada. She was excited she made it but upset that her friend Amanda got cut. She didn't know she would beat out Marissa, but she did.

She's seated as she starts her song. I vaguely know this song, but I can't name it (sorry). She sounds ok - her runs are a little shaky at the start. She hits an appallingly bad note in the middle going to the chorus and is flat through the chorus. The song is Don't Want To Miss A Thing. You know, it's not bad like Sabrina Sloan's was, but it's not good, either. She's shouting and she's flat in spots. She goes to the pianissimo section and it's ok - a good way to end after the rest of it. Overall, not very good.

Randy: Wants to know what she thinks Randy is going to say, and she says he's going to say he saw her nerves. He says it really wasn't good.

Paula: Goes to Antonella's beauty, and laments her song choice.

Simon: He says the good news is she's attractive. The bad news was it didn't work - "way, way way too big for you" in terms of the song. He thinks it's seriously damaged her chances, and I have to agree.

It was painful in points. She wants to know what she can do better, and they echo that it's song selection - she's a pop singer, and she has to pick a pop song. He says the "song ate her up", and again I agree. 1-866-IDOLS05, text 5705. Won't be voting for her - I haven't liked her much from the beginning, and this performance didn't help.

With that, we're at another break.

And we're back. We're in the red room again, first with Jordin Sparks. She thinks being young is both good and bad. Good that she has a lot of time, bad that they will lament she's young and she wants it now. They show her audition. She's 17 years old from Glendale AZ, and she's a junior in high school (God I'm old). They show her in Hollywood week, and she wants Simon's approval as she is, without changing.

Her song is Gimme One Reason. Right out of the gate, she sounds like Tracy Chapman. The arrangement is VERY fast, folks. That makes a difficult song harder to sing. My biggest complaint with this song is that it stays primarily in the lower register and I KNOW this girl has th upper register. She needs to go there, because she's doing a good job with the parts of the song she's singing. She goes there towards the end but just for a moment. She's got a great stage presence. She jumps almost a full octave at the end and it sounds really really good. Hate to say it, but it makes Antonella's performance look that much worse.

Randy: "Young Jordin Sparks" is how he opens. He agreed that the beginning of the song was weak and told her to pick a bigger song - she can do it.

Paula: She loved the song selection (I think it was a mistake).

Simon: Thinks they've seen a big change with her. He thinks she has a very, very good voice and he likes her choosing younger songs. He wants her to push herself, but he thought it was good.

Ryan's with her - he's talking about how poised and confident she is. She giggles and says she doesn't know where it comes from. 1-866-IDOLS06, text 5706. So we're halfway through. The teaser shows Nicole Tranquillo is going to to RUFUS and CHAKHA KHAN?? OMG.

Nicole Tranquillo - She's 20 and from Wernersville PA, and she's a student. She's a voice major apparently, and she thinks it's helped her. She felt group day was her best moment. Apparently Melinda Doolittle was in her group, as well as Tammy Gosnell (cut).

Ok I can't identify the song, and it starts really low with a lot of attitude. I'm looking for the melody in this song and she's not helping me find it. It's too low, she can't pull off the attitude, and she's off-key. She has a good run in what is otherwise a sea of badness imo. Then she goes to her higher register and it gets better, but it's really screechy. I'm serious here - I can't identify any pattern, reason or melody in her song. She's literally screaming. I thought it was just AWFUL.

Randy: He didn't like it - it was rough for him and went over his head.

Paula: For some reason she asks the boys if it was good. She talks about her hitting the notes she hit. She thought it was "out of this world" but not the right song, but she can sing.

Randy: Thought it was indulgent, aggressive, it looked unnatural, like she had over-rehearsed it, and he didn't like it. He thinks she can sing, but it was the wrong song.

I thought it was an absolute train wreck. Really, really bad. If America gets it right, so far she could save Antonella Barba. Nicole doesn't agree with Randy when he says it's too urban for her. Why is no one talking about the fact that she screamed and was off key? My God. 1-866-IDOLS07. Ugh. 7 down, and she's in my bottom 2.

With that, we're at a break.

And we're back. Haley Scarnato is standig there with Ryan, and she looks very classy. She talks about how good the other girls have been, talks about how talented everyone is. Very politically correct. We see her audition. She's 24 and from San Antonio TX and she sings in a band. We are reminded Simon thought she was cabaret. I remembr liking and not loving her. They show her Hollywood audition - again, good but not great (imo). She doesn't want to go home (duh).

She starts off singing and she has a sweet voice with enough strength. I don't know this song yet, either. She reminds me of someone who would be on Broadway. The tempo to the song is slowish and does put me in mind of something you'd hear before intermission. As far as her pitch goes, it's very good. I haven't heard bad notes. But frankly, this is what you can hear from any good girl singer out there. Not bad, but not great, and definitely forgettable.

Randy: He doesn't really like the song choice, apparently. It was just OK for him, really, and he echos my opinion that she has a Broadway voice but that it wasn't special. I agree.

Paula: Thought she did a nice job. I agree with that, also. She had hoped a for a different song because she did it in Hollywood week.

Simon: He thought she sounded 40. He thought it was like being at a reasonably good hotel and that ended the evening. I agree - it was WAY too old AND old-fashioned. He knows she has a good voice, but it was boring. Agree again.

Ryan's with her. He appreciates the feedback, but she's going to stay true to herself. She'll change to entertain everybody, but that's her style and she's going to stay true to herself. Ryan lets her know they're trying to set her up to get the most votes she can. My read? Totally forgettable, and grannies don't typically vote. 1-866-IDOLS08, text 5708. I won't break a nail dialing.

ANOTHER commercial.

And we're back. We're reminded of the live results tomorrow night, that four will be leaving, and that Fantasia will be performing.

Melinda Doolittle- she's 29, from Brentwood TN, and she's a background singer. She talks about being a background singer and how it would seem to be an easy switch to front singer, but it's not that easy. She loved Hollywood week. It was empowering for her. She was one of my favorites from the beginning - I hope she's great.

She takes the stage and she's singing Baby Baby Sweet Baby and she's totally pulling it off. It's an upbeat tune that lets her show her voice. She's spot-on pitch wise folks, and she's got all the nuances of this song down. She also looks totally comfortable on stage. Totally believable. This song is a mix of attitude and power-talent, and she's mixed it up correctly. I also love her phrasing. This is absolutely the best performance of the night by a mile. She even finishes hot.

Randy: He loves it. Loves it totally - she blew it out. She's hot, and all she needs is confidence because she's got the natural gift.

Paula: Loved it.

Simon: It's interesting, because he's seen little talent and a huge amount of arrogance and she's the opposite - she's a wonderful person and a fantastic singer and he really hopes she does well.

I agree. Ryan wants to know if she loves it - and she does. 1-866-IDOLS09, text 5709. I WILL be voting for her. She's tops so far, but we have some strong ones yet to go.

Commercial time.

And we're back. It's America's favorite show!! Alaina Alexander is up next. She talks about how she cries at the drop of a hat, and she's excited - she had a good rehearsal. She's 24 from Redlands, CA and she works at a pizzaria. She thought Simon would tear her up in the audition, but he loved her then. She started to cry when he did that. They show Hollywood week, and she talks about how stressful it was. She's a pretty girl and somhow sweetly sincere in her package.

Brass in Pocket is her choice. Weird choice. This is another song that spends a great deal of time in the lower register. It is a signature song as well in that you expect power in certain parts and she's going strangely soft in those sections. Not bad, but not what the song requires. She goes kind of off-key in the higher parts. So far, I'm pretty underwhelmed. I would expect to hear this in any wedding band that did this particular song.

Randy: He really didn't think it was great, and he didn't think she did anything different with it and it was pitchy in spots.

Paula: You didn't take the song and didn't go for it. She didn't feel it.

Simon: She kept singing "I'm special" and it wasn't. He thought the song was difficult to make it her own, and I agree. No one is going to think that was great - she'll be relying on her looks, because there have been 3 or 4 other girls who have absolutely blown her out.

Ryan talks about her passion, and how that's good. Simon talks about how it would be good if there were Passion Idol. Randy wants to know what she sings best - she thought it showed her personality, but it isn't Personality Idol as Randy points out. Paula thought she was special enough to make it, but it's about picking songs and this wasn't really the right song. 1-866-IDOLS10, text 5710.

Funny aside, Simon asked Ryan during the interview if he was "trying to date her" and accuses Ryan of being "over-biased". Ryan - NOT amused. Like, seriously. He didn't like that at all.

No commercial!! Yay!! Next up is Gina Glockson. We see her audition. She's 22 from Naperville IL, and she's a dental assistant. She talks about getting cut in Season 5, and how she had a yar to think about it and she came back. I liked her - I considered her a dark horse. This should be interesting.

All By Myself is her song. BIG song. She standing at the mic to start. She REALLY reminds me just a bit of Kelly Clarkson as she sings these lower parts. Now we're going to the money portion of the song. They show what can only be her mother crying. She goes to the high notes and she's totally on key and it sounds interesting and good. And then she goes to the transition to the REALLY high part and it was just a bit rough, but she recovers. She also finishes very strong.

Randy: Big girl, big voice, big song. He thought it was cool because he didn't know it was going to work, and he was pleasantly surprised. Said she had a nice close.

Paula: Right song. Good job.

Simon: He was surprised, but he didn't think she hit the right note; the big note. She didn't quite get there like Celine Dion does (as if anyone could). He's kind of neutral.

Ryan's with her - wanted to know how confident she was before, and she was a 6. He asks how confident she is now, and she says she's a 12. She hit the note, she's proud of herself, and I think she should be. It was a very good performance. 1-866-IDOLS11, text 5711.

Commercial!!

And we're back, with the girl I had as THE best of all the girls, Lakesha Jones. We se her audition. She's 27 from Flint MI, and she's a bank teller. We see her 3-year old daughter, and are reminded that she's definitely got the goods. She seems like a nice girl in adition to being very talented.

She's singing Jennifer Hudson's song, I Am Telling You. This is a big song, and she's got the voice to deliver. What's nice about her as well is that she understand the need to modulate to really perform a song. She backs off where she needs to and powers through where the song requires it. I thought this song was great overall, and I think the nearly a capella ending was masterful.

Randy: He loves her generally, and she laid it out on that stage tonight. He loved her.

Paula: Says she has a lot lot to be proud of, and this is where she belongs.

Simon: "Just to correct somone earlier on, that's the right note. I am very tempted to say to 23 people 'book your plane tickets home'". Paula admonishes him, and he says she's in a different league. I agree with a qualification - she AND Melinda are in a different league than the other girls.

Ryan's with her. It's her daughter's birthday. AW. :-) 1-866-IDOLS12, text 5712.

This is how it stacks up so far for me:

1. Lakesha Jones
2. Melinda Doolittle
3. Sabrina Sloan
4. Jordin Sparks
5. Stephanie Edwards
6. Gina Glockson
7. Leslie Hunt
8. Alaina Alexander
9. Haley Scarnato
10. Antonella Barba
11. Nicole Tranquillo
12. Amy Krebs

I gotta say - it's very close for me between Lakesha and Melinda. The other 10 are somewhere WAY below those two girls, frankly. The surprise of the night for me was Sabrina Sloan, because I didn't pick her at ALL after the Green Mile episode. I'm also concerned that Stephanie Edwards will suffer for going first.

As far as tomorrow goes, I pick Nicole Tranquillo and Amy Krebs to go home. Not even close to the top four girls. I would also say that Antonella Barba, Haley Scarnato, and Alaina Alexander ought to be very happy that the other two girls out-sucked them, because they were only slightly less painful than the worst people.

I will try to catch up with the boys before the results show tomorrow. I should be able to do that. Thanks for reading!

AIEE!! I"ll Miss AI Tonight Entriely.

2007-02-20T16:15:00.000-05:00

All right folks. I have another work commitment tonight from 6-?? and I will miss the FIRST of the rounds that matter.

I'll DVR it and will (hopefully) catch up tomorrow night and I WILL be there tomorrow to do a live blogging recap. If you're checking by here, I appreciate it and just wanted to let you know I"m committed to this but work got in the way. :-)

Hey, All You Visitors!!

2007-02-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

Hello visitors! I was pretty thrilled when I opened my traffic stats to see that I had 108 visits yesterday, 46 from unique visitors!! Yet the comment silence is... Weird! Should I take it as total agreement? I just don't know!

At any rate, in an effort to keep the page updated, I bring you some Idol Rumors hot of the BlogPresses.

Interesting if somewhat irrelevant: of the 24 semi-finalists, 6 are from California. California feels primed to break the hold the South has seemed to have on American Idol.
The average age of the 24 semi-finalists is 24.04 years old. Hat-tip to Reality Blurred for giving all the ages so I could calculate an average.
NBC St. Paul, MN affiliate KTTC laments the lack of Minnesotans in the semi-finals.
Rumors continue to fly that Michael Jackson will make a guest appearance on American Idol this season. I heard it first over at MJs Big Blog, and now legitimate news articles are picking up the same rumor. I have to say - WHY? The guy is, at best, ethically creepy and, at worst, a pedophile. MJ has flatly stated that she will boycott the show if Jackson is included IN the show. I don't know what I'll do if so - I'm hoping they just don't go there so that I don't have to draw my own line in the sand.
Paula Abdul has "never been drunk".
What's this? Former Go-Go's front woman Belinda Carlisle was offered a chance to replace Abdul on Idol? Reading further into the article you learn that this happened several years ago. Yawn. I find Paula weird at times, but I really don't see a need to replace her.
Also included on the "my state doesn't have a contestant" rollcall is Alabama. That's notable only in that Alabama HAS produced a plethora of finalists in seasons 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Most of the news coverage rightfully features the names of the top 24. What I've included are some of the "other" mentions. Hope you enjoy!