Top 8 - Results
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
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!
Labels: American Idol, Finals, Results, Top 8
What will I say next? Click and find out.
posted by RenaRF @ 7:50 PM,
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Top 8 - Predictions
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)
Labels: American Idol, Finals, Predictions, Top 8
What will I say next? Click and find out.
posted by RenaRF @ 7:17 PM,
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Top 8 - Performance
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
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
Labels: American Idol, Finals, Performance, Top 8
What will I say next? Click and find out.
posted by RenaRF @ 7:25 PM,
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