American Idol Groupies

I have reviews!

2010-03-03T23:05:00.001-05:00

But I'm not sure if anyone out there in cyberspace is reading them here, so before I post, I just want to ask . . . tap-tap-tap . . . is anyone out there? Shall I continue? Thanks!

Top 12 Guys or . . .

2010-02-25T00:24:00.005-05:00

"In which the judges are stupid and useless." That's my subtitle for tonight. Don't like it? Bite me.

Tonight's episode put me in a mood. And not a good one. You like it when I'm snarky in my reviews? You're in for a treat then.

I sat through 2 hours of this nonsense so I could get to the only guy in the competition with some serious, serious talent and who is so entirely in a league of his own, it renders the other male performances essentially useless and then I had to listen to the STUPID judges. Idiots. They can bite me, too.

I'll review the performances (though I don't know why I bother -- tonight stunk), but I have more choice words for the stupid judges and idiot host than I do the competitors. I'll italicize them and put them in order as they popped into my head during tonight's ~~show~~ total and utter snoozefest and tedious and moronic comments ("judges," I'm talking to you).

You know what? Let's just start with the italics right now. Tonight, for me, felt like a little jaunt into opposite world. If I liked it, the judges didn't. And if I didn't like it, they did. The judges tell the contestants to be original and then when they are, they say, "Do something more mainstream." They tell them to choose good songs and make them their own and then when they do, they say it's not a good choice and they shouldn't do that to songs. ARGH. It's maddening. I can't even fathom what it must be like for the contestants who surely must need massive amounts of therapy after the ordeal that is competing on this show.

Well, I have a little message for each of the judges.

Ellen, I like you as a person, but not as a judge. I believe that you are a genuinely nice person and TV show host and that you're not going to turn all mean and nasty intense a lá Rosie, but we're not two shows in and I'm already really uncomfortable listening to someone with no musical background giving criticism to these kids and making comments like, "I don't know, but I like your personality and I like you. And the song? I don't know. But I like your personality and I like you and I like your personality, so, I don't know. I like your personality and I like you." I just want to pull my hair and scream, "God Almighty, make it stop!" Ellen, I like you a lot and I like your personality, but I have more musical background than you do and could therefore be more useful sitting in that chair. I feel like I'm watching a doe-eyed groupie (beautiful eyes, by the way, that color is nothing short of unnaturally stunning) who is so excited to be on her favorite show that she just can't believe she's a judge on there and getting paid to do it! Yeah, well, neither can I. I'm sorry, but I can't help but feel that the show loses some credibility having a judge like that on the panel. It would be like you coming and counseling my clients or me trying to be the host on your show. It doesn't work. Oh, but on the upside? I like your personality and I like you.

Simon, you use a lot of phrases like "When you see this played back, you'll see it was really awful," and "When you watch it later, you'll be embarrassed," and "When you hear yourself tonight, you'll recognize how really bad you sound." The same could be said of you.

Kara, you're married?? That only makes your totally inappropriate crush on Casey that much more disgusting. Get a grip, you and all of you. Your ridiculous, juvenile antics had the poor kid trying to not laugh throughout his entire performance, which, to be honest, made it a little uncomfortable for us at home. You've already had the poor guy take off his shirt, you've lifted your leg during an opportunistic and flirty hug, and now you're swooning while he sings? Gross. You should so get fired. Oooh, I know! You and Ellen could get fired together and they could bring back Paula for less than they're likely paying the two of you. Seriously, you're starting to get on my last nerve.

Randy, I've got nothing. Other than suggesting some remedial math (it is mathematically impossible to be more than 100% anything) and perhaps English as a second language to supplement whatever it is you speak, I really don't know what to say to you anymore.

I miss Paula. A lot.

Oh, I'm sorry. Was that long? Well too bad. That's what happens when you have four judges. It's LONG. So excruciatingly long. Honestly, it's painful at times.

All right. Here we go. Again, my favorites are marked with asterisks. Don't look too hard. There aren't many.

Toddrick Hall - "Since You've Been Gone"
Honestly? I thought it was awesome. So, of course, the judges did not. His voice wasn't great in the lower register (look that up, Ellen, it might come in handy for you), but it wasn't terrible either. Like Mark says, the song has a definite early R&B/Bobby Brown vibe to it and that was very cool. The judges were way too hard on him. And, you know, he "made it his own," so they thought he shouldn't have. The judges are so freaking histrionic, it's ridiculous.

Aaron Kelly - "Here Comes Goodbye"
Dude, never, never, never sing songs with prognostic lyrics like that. Never. Seriously, it's a portent. A sign, if you will, that you'll be singing out the credits on the results show. Just don't do it. This kid is a mix of little David Archuleta and little Kevin Covais all rolled into one. They like kids like this though. At least for a little while. That's why he got the split screen treatment that, as far as I can recall, no one else got. You can tell the kid has a good voice there somewhere. Somewhere. I did not think it went well, so of course the judges praised him.

Jermaine Sellers - "Get Here"
This church boy reminds me of Charles Grigsby (who I also liked). He's a good singer and he's so cute. I like him. It wasn't great, though. I liked his look, too, but he's here to sing (hear that, judges? It's a singing competition. Not a fashion show. Not a personality contest. SINGING. That other stuff is part of the package, but the main content is SINGING.) And it was just okay. But I can see potential. And you tell him to be young. He's 27. Young, yes. But not young for Idol. Don't you people have notes so you can at least pretend you care? You 4. I'm talking to you.

Tim Urban - "Apologize"
You want to know whose spot he got in the Top 24? Chris Golightly's. That's right. I know. I knew before tonight. Because I'm that tuned in to the tabloids of this show. This kid is a little too "High School Musical" for me to take him seriously. Not that I've ever seen those movies, but he just seems like he would fit in. He has a teeny bit of a JPL (Jon Peter Lewis--who, by the way, we love) vibe to him, but not enough. And seriously, 4 judges dogging on the kid? So uncomfortable to watch. Having 4 judges is getting really, really old. They all say the EXACT same thing. I don't feel like any of them bring anything original to the table, so we hear 4 different voices from 4 different people say the same exact thing 4 times over.

Joe Muñoz - "You and I Both"
I think I join with the rest of America when I say, "What did he just say?" He's smiley and likable and I dig the accent, but I don't understand his lyrics. I don't think it's his accent, because Julio and Enrique can pull that off. I think he's a low talker. If you watch Seinfeld, you understand. I didn't think it was all that, so Simon liked it.

For those keeping score at home, we're halfway through and still, no asterisks.

*Tyler Grady - "American Woman"
This guy gets a small asterisk, only because I haven't seen enough to get too gushy yet. But I really like this guy a lot. It is SO WEIRD to watch him, because I feel I've entered a strange time warp where some guy has just stepped out of my brother's high school yearbook and time traveled about 30 years to be on this stage tonight. But, Dude, I like him! I love his personality and look, but I also think he can sing. I have two gripes, but they're mostly for the judges, so let me switch to italics. What's wrong with a throwback? We have throwbacks all the time that we praise (reference Bublé and Sinatra or Adam Lambert and Freddie Mercury). It's cool. It's different and you keep saying that's what you want. So please make up your FREAKING minds. Because it's soooo tedious to see you constantly contradict yourselves.

And you heard the kid in his reel. His look has been the subject of a lot of conversation and he'd really like to focus on his singing. So he did. But you didn't. ARGH. And we had to hear it FOUR times, because apparently once isn't enough. Oh, the dumbing down of America! Now poor Tyler has to go to the mall, because guess what? His look? Not an act. He's a tall, skinny kid. And that's how he dresses. That you criticize. But the tails you dig. What are you drinking in those cups? Bring back the beer glasses.

*Lee Dewyze - "Chasing Cars"
I hope he sticks around just so we can hear his name more. It's fun to say. Lee Dewyze. Ha! There's something I like about him, but again, I'm not sure yet what it is. He reminds me of my dear, dear Elliott, but (and I know it sounds crazy) he also has a bit of Mr. Crowe in him when he wears a hat. He was a little off, but I love the tone of his voice. I think he has potential. On this, and perhaps only this, Simon and I agree. (Oh and Simon, congrats on the new shirt, by the way. You're really mixing it up this year.)

As long as I already have the italics feature on, let me address Mr. Seacrest. Ryan, I seriously HATE it when you ask the judges to clarify what they've said. ENOUGH ALREADY. We hear the same thing 4 times. You asking them to clarify usually makes it 6 times. It's especially annoying when they've totally laid into a kid and has him or her on the verge of tears. Please stop. I seriously hate it. Which then makes me sort of hate you.

John Park - "God Bless the Child"
I like his personality a lot. And it'd be cool if Shania did marry him, because, c'mon, how cool of a story would that be? But Seriously? The singing? Yuck. It was NOT good. I had better hopes for him, but he was so nervous and horrible that, well, just ugh. I know he has a personal attachment to the meaning of the song and while it's a lovely sentiment, if he really wants to help out his hardworking parents for whom money is an issue, don't sing such a lame song. It was so so bad.

And could someone please tell me why Ellen, of all people, is saying things to these boys like, "Young girls will vote for you?" What? No "young boys?" C'mon, Ellen. Let's be fair.

This is the point in the show where I look over at Mark and say (because at this point we're both ready to bash our heads against each other to dull the pain), "Well, this is good news for Andrew Garcia, because no one holds even the tiniest candle to him. This competition is so totally his." His and Crystal Bowersox's. And Siobhan's. That's right. That's my Final 3 prediction for now. You heard it here first. Oh yeah, I keep thinking about betting on that. I should look into it. It'd be a fun way to pay our debt to Sallie Mae.

*Michael Lynche - "This Love"
I like him. He's not my favorite, but at number 9 tonight, he was the best singer yet. Oh, that's so sad.

Alex Lambert - "Wonderful World"
He's 19 and in high school? There's a story there! He reminds me of Paul McCartney. I love that he actually mentioned Mary Powers in his video. So so funny. Especially with the ironic clips spliced in. Anyway, I like the tone of his voice, but ugh. His performance was so all over the place. It was SO uncomfortable and he was SO nervous. So of course the judges praised him. And who is James Morrison? Should I know who that is? Oooh, just looked him up. I like!

*Casey James - "Heaven"
Thanks to Magistra, all I see when I look at him is Samantha's "Smith Jared." So, after his intro, I pictured him singing to Kim Cattrall. I love his voice and I really love that he sang an 80s rock love ballad and generally I like his stage presence, too, but it was so uncomfortable to watch him try not to laugh throughout his entire performance. I almost yelled, "HOLY HELL, KARA!" But I restrained myself. Because I am nothing if not restrained. The judges are such stupid juveniles sometimes. It's so not fair to the guy to do that! The swaying, the swooning, the whispering . . . this is live TV, idiots, and it's this guy's FIRST shot at doing this and your immaturity is on the brink of blowing his chances. Morons. So juvenile. Grow up. And then pull yourself together, Kara. You're a judge. So JUDGE. Do you have any idea how stupid you look when you act like an annoying high school cheerleader who's swooning over the football player so much so that you blather through useless words of nothingness that are then transmitted through the airwaves and into millions of living rooms across the country? No? Well, when you hear it back tonight, you'll see how awful it sounded.

And I also find it royally annoying when you all insist on focusing on looks and personality instead of singing. Dude can sing. So help him out with something useful.

But all is okay, because my favorite, and the saving grace of the night, was up next.

*Andrew Garcia - Sugar, We're Going Down"
It. Was. FABULOUS! I cannot BELIEVE the judges were so harsh on him! I bet you one of them retracts what they said tomorrow (which means we'll hear all 4 of them retract their comments. That'll be fun.). I love what he did. It was BRILLIANT. An acoustic version of this song? So very cool. Best singer of the night. By a freaking mile. And all they could do was bash? Oh that's right. It's opposite world. So, since he slayed that song and did generally awesome, they had to criticize. And since he made it his own and was original, they had to tell him to not be so original next time. What the ??

To sum up. The boy, overall, stank. Except for Andrew Garcia. And the judges are stupid.

Going home: Take your pick. It doesn't really matter. 11 of them will leave before Andrew.
Best of the night: Andrew, despite what the stupid judges had to say. Idiots.

Top 12 Boys (Do I Have to Keep 10?)

2010-02-25T00:24:00.002-05:00

No word of a lie--I was falling asleep while Kara was talking tonight. And the performances? Bleh, Bleh, Bleh, Bleh plus, Bleh, etc. This is the second night in a row that I wondered what happened to this show. I'm sure it will all get better next week, but I was really disappointed tonight. And what's with the judges and their misplaced criticisms? Number one, don't praise people who really don't deserve it. And B, don't be overly harsh with the two guys who actually sounded like they deserved to be on American Idol.

OK, some questions for some people . . .

Ryan: Do you ever get tired of the endless banter?

Ellen: Aren't you worried a bunch of sorority sisters are downing a beer every time you say "adorable?"

Randy: How many cliches can you fit in one sentence?

Kara: Will you be growing up at all during this season?

Simon: Are you sick of sitting next to her yet?

**********

Todrick Hall: Are you even old enough to channel vintage Bobby Brown like that?

Aaron Kelly: Can you really love your chances when the judges tell you things like, "You didn't sound great but little girls will like your looks so you'll do well?"

Jermaine Sellers: Did you wear underwear two sizes too small to hit those notes?

Tim Urban: What was your other song choice?

Joe Munoz: Did you have to stuff your mouth with cotton before going on stage tonight?

Tyler Grady: I may have missed it in your video intro, but were you trying to make a big deal about your 70s stylings?

Lee Dewyze: Halfway through the show are you feeling so much better about your chances to advance?

John Park: What. Was. That?

Michael Lynche: Seriously, were you playing a ukelele up there?

Alex Lambert: Why the mullet?

Casey James: So are you ready to be taken seriously as a musician, or do you want to be remembered for going topless in your audition?

Andrew Garcia: How hard was it not to go off on the judges as they praised you for your rendition of "Straight Up" (a song that takes guts to make acoustic) and then criticized you for doing the same thing tonight?

TWO WE MAY NEVER SEE AGAIN: Tim Urban and John Park

Top 12 Girls

2010-02-23T23:40:00.002-05:00

So much about Idol has changed:

Now the fire background moves in swirls. That's so 2010.

We have a judge who is funny on purpose (as opposed to someone who was funny because people made fun of her). And MAN is she giddy or what. She's so excited she can barely contain herself. She's a total fan. It's hilarious.

The judges are back to drinking Coke instead of beer (like they did in Hollywood).

I personally miss Paula and I think it's SO DULL that none of the judges get up and dance now.

And the judges aren't acting like children with inappropriate jokes and innuendo. Oh wait.

And so much about Idol has stayed the same:

Simon uses the word "indulgent" while massaging his pectoral muscles through his gray sweater.

Kara talks chin first.

Randy attempts to articulate things.

And I find myself worrying, the whole time they're singing, that they're going to drop the microphone. Especially when they switch from hand to hand. Or when they shoot their arms out to the side. I can almost visualize the microphone go sailing off into the audience and hitting someone in the head, leaving the singer with no way to amplify his or her voice. On Live TV. What would they do?! How awful would that be? Could they ever get through after that? I know. I have issues that have already been addressed in countless therapy sessions, thank you very much.

But enough about that.

Here is my I'll-try-to-keep-it-brief-but-brevity?-not-my-strong-point recap of the Top 12 Girls which I've also subtitled (See? Not so much with the brevity.), "In Which Every Girl Reminds Me of Someone Else." *My favorites are designated with asterisks.

Paige Miles - "It's All Right Now"
She reminds me of Milli Vanilli (either one of them) because she has their eyes.
Other than that, I already don't remember much. Oh, the curse of going first.

Ashley Rodriguez - "Happy"
She, who looks like Eva Mendes, is not too happy now.
That's because she was stupid enough to do a Leona Lewis song (Never, never, never do a song by one of Simon's own. Never.).
And worse yet, she didn't do it well.
She's one of the two going home on Thursday. I bet she is.
I should gamble on this stuff. Maybe I could make some money.

Janell Wheeler - "What About Love?"
Janell is a Sarah Chalke look-a-like who sang a song that was way bigger than she could handle, but I guess that's okay because Randy has "mad vibes for her."

*Lilly Scott - "Fixing A Hole"
She mostly reminds me of someone you might find in a nursing home, what with the gray hair and long peacock earrings, but DUDE. That was the first great performance of the evening. And I dig that more people are doing The Beatles. And it's way cool that she played guitar. Love this girl's voice. And I learned a new word tonight. Busk. I'm a nerd and already looked it up. Such a cool, new word. Thank you, Kara.

*Katelyn Epperly - "Oh Darlin'"
So, she's the first to remind me of someone, not because of her looks (she is a WAY cute girl, though), but because of her sound. She reminds me of Kelly Clarkson. This girl can sing. AND she can sing on pitch. Which is more than we can say for the first 3 performers of the night. I like this girl. Though I could have done without Kara's cattiness. Kara reminds me of snotty girls in high school. I wouldn't have liked her then either. Unfair of Kara to fill in her word bubble like that. So so uncool.

Haeley Vaughn - "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"
She has Fantasia eyes. This may be my least favorite Beatles song, but I like what she did with it. That is one confident 16-year-old.

Lacey Brown - "Landslide"
Yikes. Pitchy Indeed. She reminds me of pretty much anyone from "Reality Bites." Don't know who exactly. Other than she seems like she could've stepped out from that movie. I'd like to see her again, though. So I hope she doesn't go home on Thursday. Like Ashley will.

Michelle Delamor - "Fallen"
Brave song. She looks like a mix of Gloria Estafan and Jordin Sparks, but she has pretty hair, sang well, and was okay for me for her. Plus, Randy thought she was "hot and dope and cool." So there.

*Didi Benami - "The Way I Am"
Why were the judges so harsh on this girl? I loved her! Her sound reminds me of Megan Joy (but in a good way), but she looks like Brooke White. Either way, the judges seemed unimpressed, but I really like her. Love her sound. Plus, she met her goal and didn't cry! Go Didi!

*Siobhan Magnus - "Wicked Game"
She reminds me of a foreign film actress. Audrey Tatou? Maybe. No, definitely. Just Googled her. She totally looks like her. And Audrey Tatou is beautiful. So, she reminds me of her. And my Turkish girlfriend from high school. I like this girl. Simon thinks she might be the dark horse. I like that she crossed the gender line and sang a song by a man. The Chris Isaak song was good on her, though I do want to hear her rock out next time.

*Crystal Bowersox - "Hand In My Pocket"
LOVE her. This girl is SO Melissa Etheridge. I love her originality, her dreads, her voice! And I love that she rocked the guitar. The harmonica was good, too, but I think that was mostly so they didn't have to censor lyrics. Anyway, this girl is probably my favorite. And I'd love to see her do David Bowie.

Katy Stevens - "Feelin' Good"
I LOVE Michael Bublé. Like LOVE. Me? Bublé? Big fan. Me. Love Bublé. Oh, I'm sorry. This is supposed to be about Katy. She sang a Michael Bublé song (and I heart him). She did well, but I agree with the judges that it wasn't the best song choice. She is a personal favorite for me, not so much from the singing, but because she's my Portuguese homegirl and I'm rooting for her and her vavó. Oh, and she reminds me of Jenny Gessel. Don't look it up. She's a personal friend, not a famous one. I'd like to see more of Katy. I don't think tonight showcases her well.

My Top Favorites: Lilly (nursing home), Katelyn (Kelly Clarkson), Didi (Brooke White and Megan Joy), Shioban (Audrey Tatou), and Crystal (Melissa Etheridge). And Katy's Vavó.

Going Home: My bet's on Ashley. And one of the others.

Top 12 Girls

2010-02-23T23:00:00.000-05:00

Finally American Idol has gotten to the point that I care to rehash what I've just seen, although I'm not quite as enthused as I will be when we have our final 12 finalists. This may explain why I don't have a whole lot to say this week. I was looking forward to tonight's show a little bit since I do think this is an unusually strong pool of female talent, but three contestants into the broadcast I wanted to double check that I was actually watching American Idol and not some other copycat talent show. As Randy would say, "It just wasn't that good, dude." By the end, though I was satisfied that there may be 6 decent female contestants in this group after the also-rans get eliminated.

OK, I have a question for everyone involved tonight:

Ryan: Who was behind the black plaid tie on black shirt wardrobe decision tonight?

Ellen: Are you just having the most fun you ever thought you could?

Randy: Can you build on the few really good comments you made and try to fill an entire show with insightful and useful comments?

Kara: Do you need someone to call you a b**** to make your evening complete?

Simon: Why do you look a little lost without Paula at your side?

**********

Paige Miles: Why didn't I remember who you were before tonight and why can't I remember you now?

Ashley Rodriguez: Why are you still around?

Janell Wheeler: What happened to your guitar?

Lilly Scott: Did you know you were busking before Kara told you?

Katelyn Epperly: Could you BE wearing any more lipstick?

Haeley Vaughn: What did I do to deserve all the screaming at me?

Michelle Delamor: Do I need to take the time to remember you, or should I just wait to see if you've made it to the Final 12.

Didi Benami: Do you and Megan Joy have the same vocal coach?

Siobhan Magnus: Can you name any other Chris Isaak songs?

Crystal Bowersox: Did you know when Simon criticizes you like he did tonight, that means he likes you and thinks you could make him a lot of money?

Katy Stevens - Can you relax and keep it in tune next week?

**********

PACKING THEIR SUITCASES THURSDAY NIGHT: Ashley Rodriguez and Michelle Delamor

Hooray for Hollywood

2010-02-10T19:15:00.003-05:00

So, Ellen. I like her. I already liked her before AI and I still like her and I love that she loves American Idol. But I have to admit that it's kind of weird that she has no music background.

Anyone else think it's weird that they switched from the classic red Coca-Cola glasses to mugs of beer with frothy heads on them? Okay, I know it's really "vitamin water," which I'm not even convinced is a health benefit more than it is a money scheme, but still. It looks like beer. And they claim this is a family show.

I miss Paula.

Kara kind of bugs me. Especially when she leans forward, sticks her chin out ahead of her face and uses her arms, hands, hair, mouth, and eyes to go a little too over the top than necessary like practically ALL the freaking time.

I'm so glad Randy didn't get much camera and sound time. I can only take so much.

It is about time they get some SERIOUSLY talented female singers on this show. I am almost always annoyed by most of their female contestants. I recognized that I'm slightly biased, because I prefer a male singing voice to a female one most of the time, but really, their female contestants have left me, for the most part, unimpressed. Well, color me happily surprised, because this year's crop of female contestants (especially those with guitars) is awesome!

I was sad to see Maddie go. I liked her and think they should've given her one more shot. She chose a lousy song, yes, but she sang it well, which is more than they can say for many contestants. And she was likable. I hope she tries out again, because she's good.

I like that one kid whose parents were in gangs. He played an acoustic "Straight Up" that was DOPE! That's right. Dope. Randy didn't say it. So I did. Dope.

Tonight is group night! I love group night! The singing, the drama, the cat fights. It's about as dramatic as it gets for AI, so it's kind of fun, especially since it's only for a day and not a whole season a la The Bachelor.

Mark has made several great remarks this week, worthy of posts of their own, so I hope he won't mind me sharing one of them on here. While sharing his annoyances with Hollywood Week, like how they manipulate us viewers, he said something to the effect of, "It's gotten worse. They're going to put them in rooms and make us guess which one is going home. How are we supposed to know when they only show us like 3 of them leading up to that point?"

Cue Music. Hollywood Part 2 starts (dramatic pause) in 45 minutes!

Bad Mood

2010-02-03T00:06:00.001-05:00

It's been one of those days. The kind where you're irritable and stressed out and not so proud of yourself for your behavior. The kind of day where you want to give yourself a 35-minute time-out on the naughty step. Twice. The kind where you just want to go to bed and start over the next day.

But you can't yet. Because you still have a stinking audition show to watch. And we're still not done yet! Oh, the humanity! This is not helping my mood. In fact, this would be the complete opposite of helping my mood. Ellen and Hollywood cannot come fast enough.

The good thing is I've been told that people like my AI reviews better when I'm grumpy. So, today is apparently your lucky day.

Where to start? This. This is why I'm not in bed yet.

I stayed up to watch another annoying intro where Randy pretends to not know which city he's in. We get it, Randy. You're so funny. Ha. Ha.

I stayed up to watch Posh Spice dress and do her hair like an alien from outer space and to wonder if she ever eats at all.

I stayed up to watch four shallow adults who haven't ever quite outgrown high school try to manufacture a sob story where there really isn't one.

And then I stayed up to watch Kara fawn all over every sob story like it's a freaking Lifetime special. "This was very moving." Which part, Kara? That, *sob*, she has been singing karaoke for 3 years? Or the part where that one kid says he lived in Maui (or maybe North Carolina. Potato. Patata)? Or was it the one where the one girl cried when she fulfilled her lifelong dream of meeting Simon? Someone get a screen writer, stat!

I stayed up to fast forward image after image of the Colorado Rockies and gigantic crowds of people chanting what I can only assume was "No, I'm the next American Idol!"

I stayed up to watch Simon call someone lippy and mock her for being a single mother and for wearing a wig.

I stayed up to watch some guy who thinks he looks like Jack Black but didn't really.

I stayed up to hear about twenty "Yes or No, Randy?"s.

I stayed up to watch Dudley Do-Right try out for American Idol. Because you know if that strangely-conceited football player had dressed like a Mountie, he would've looked just like this:

I stayed up to watch some guy with the personality of Bucky Covington do a strip-tease-on-demand for the judges.

I stayed up to watch some kid sing as "community service." A service of what kind, I do not know.

I stayed up to find out that some girl wants to be the "first black pop country mainstream" artist. What? That's about the equivalent of saying you want to be the first Asian rock jazz alternative.

I stayed up because the producers made me think there would be someone naked on the show. Gasp! But no, instead, we got that disturbing bikini boy, not that we had to watch him make out with Ryan. And honestly? In the previews, they had the courtesy to blur out the image. It would've been less nightmare inducing if he'd been naked. I pray I don't remember my dreams when I wake up.

I'm going to bed.

Because they're there.

2010-01-28T17:04:00.002-05:00

Idol thoughts. Dancing around my head. They must come out. Because that's how I roll.

Here we go, stream of consciousness style . . . my mind gives a key word or phrase and then my mind answers it. All of this is interspersed with random outbursts, also courtesy of my mind. Kind of like Tourette's, but not exactly (and no reference to the contestant who really has Tourette's, nor is any kind of offense intended or implied).

Random Tourette-like outbursts are not labeled. All other keywords are indicated. We're starting with an outburst.

TEDIOUS! TEDIOUS! Audition weeks are so TEDIOUS! Two more weeks of this crap and then we get to the bridge between SUPER TEDIOUS and NOT TEDIOUS AT ALL (to me), that bridge being ONLY A LITTLE TEDIOUS (because I kind of like it a lot) -- Hollywood week.

Avril Lavigne: Useless, giggly, and don't even get me started on how much she ticked me off with telling that one guy no because she thought he couldn't balance family and work life. That is so not her call. Her call is "yay" or "nay" on their singing talent. That's it. He's there to audition, so obviously he has chosen to pursue it, at least for now. Oh, and her horned hoodie looked stupid.

Katy Perry: I liked her. She has her own thoughts independent of MissIMustHaveBeenSoPopularInHighSchoolThatIThoughtGirls
AlwaysAgreedWithGirls. I loved that. I'll take that to the Kristin Chenoweth Estrogen Fest. Gag.

Some Jonas Boy: Useless. He said, what, maybe 3 words? He just sat there looking what I can only assume is "pretty" to the teeny boppers of today. I spent the whole time wondering if he was the Jonas brother who publicly proclaimed, after returning from his honeymoon, "Sex isn't worth the wait." I kept wondering if his wife would think he was pretty enough to look at that she'd get over starting their marriage off on that insulting foot.

Neil Patrick Harris: Doogie did a pretty good job. But what's with the seating arrangement? He was the first guest judge to not sit by Simon. They even had annoying Kristin Chenoweth (who so totally reminds me of someone who shall rename nameless) sit near him and she was totally irritating him. I think Simon is a homophobe.

What the heck was with the Barney girl turned dominatrix? Was she that scarred by being on that kiddie show with the big, purple dinosaur? Okay, so maybe . . . Either way, her voice wasn't that great. I predict she won't be making it past Hollywood.

All right. So I guess this is more about the guest judges than anything else. Oh well. None of the contestants jump out at me as that memorable. Off the top of my head right now, I like the different sounding contestants who have personality -- like the Portuguese girl, the guy who was on Broadway with Fantasia, the kid whose parents were in gangs . . . yeah, that's about it. Bring on Hollywood. Oh wait. 2 more episodes of crap first.

ARGH!

Did he??

2010-01-22T10:30:00.002-05:00

I'm sorry?

Did Randy say, to the girl with the half paralyzed face, "That was wild. When you walked in, it was like you were a little scared of us. And we were a little scared of you??"

Did he? Did he??

Yeah, I thought so.

Idiot.

I hate AI Auditions

2010-01-14T16:15:00.004-05:00

I hate them so much that I don't usually blog about them. But I need to vent. I'd avoid these episodes all together, but I want to see the good singers. I want to form some kind of attachment to them and their stories before I see them in Hollywood. But A.I. producers continue to thwart our good intentions with their nonsense.

I hate the waste of time that is stupid-person-getting-airtime auditions on American Idol.

I hate the endless clips of rising suns, rain, seas of umbrellas, rolling clouds in fast motion, setting suns, mass transit, various historical statues, and crowds of thousands chanting, "I'm the next American Idol!" instead of, oh, I don't know, PEOPLE SINGING WELL!!

I don't want to be entirely negative, so let me add that I love Tivo and the ability to fast forward through said waste of time.

Back to the negatives. Because that's what this post is about. I hate that the producers air a 2-hour program, show us 3 decent singers, 147 crappy ones, and then wrap it up at the end with a 30-second montage with the voice over telling us that "19 other hopefuls got that golden ticket." 19 people we didn't see. Because we had to watch girls dressed as guitars, tirades we can't even hear because they're covered up by loud, annoying beeping sounds paired with strategically-placed blue American Idol ovals, and hokey dramatizations mocking decent back woods people from the South or Appalachia, which I'm sorry but is just so totally over the top rude and so very, very politically INcorrect, that I don't know how they don't have yearly lawsuits from the ACLU.

I hate that they let Paula Abdul get away. Loopy or not, she was the saving grace of that show.

WHERE IS ELLEN?? I am so ready for Ellen.

And my biggest beef of all beefs, as I've mentioned before maybe once or twice, Randy Jackson gets on my last nerve. Paula they let go. But Dumb Ass they keep. Let's just call him D.A. for short.

Let's proceed with some of the reasons I don't like him.

D.A. has the inability to think for himself.

After Simon says, "Let's vote. I say yes." D.A. says, "Uh yeah, I say yes, too." But confusion strikes when Simon defaults to D.A. first. We get a series of uhs and ums and nervous laughter followed by stupid questions like, "You want to know what I think?"

And they pay him millions of dollars to do this, Ladies and Gentlemen.

D.A. is a total follower.

Simon likes them, then so does D.A.
Kara likes them. Big surprise! So does D.A.
Simon gets up to take a smoke break. Randy gets up even though he doesn't even smoke.

D.A. makes tons of veiled insults that he doesn't recognize as totally transparent and, on top of that, really believes are compliments.

An average-looking kid walks in and sings like a superstar and D.A. says with a look of awe and a sound of utter surprise, "Wow! I'll tell you what, Dawg. When you walked in here, I did NOT think you would sound like that, but you can really sing!" Which roughly translates to, "Dude, you are so ugly that I thought you would suck" while also conveying the message, "I am totally shallow and pre judge based on outward appearances, because I'm just that fly."

D.A. is a total math idiot (and in 9 seasons, they have yet to clue him in).

I mean he sounds like such a dope and no one stops him.

Simon says, "100% yes."
D.A. follows up with, "1 billion trillion gazillion percent yes!"

Kara says, "100% yes."
D.A. follows up with, "Five hundred thousand percent yes!"

Mary J. Blige says, "100% yes."
D.A. follows up with, "200 percent yes!"

(Not that Mary J. has much on Mr. Jackson. I do believe she said that one of the contestants had won a congeal-iality award. Unless there is a prize in Miss America for the ability to solidify or coagulate of which I am unaware, she could use some clueing in as well).

D.A. has next to nothing intelligent to say.

It all sounds something like "Yo, I mean, dope, dawg. I mean, Dude. That was . . . what?!?! What was, I mean, that was, you know. I don't know, you know? Yo."

He drives me crazy. Seriously, God bless the inventor of Tivo. 2 cities down and 6 to go.

It's a twofer

2009-05-21T01:05:00.001-05:00

Yesterday

I went into this finale not as hyped as I usually feel. I think it's because I felt sort of apathetic about the results. I like both of them and they're simply very different styles, so may the man with the most votes win, you know? Three years ago, we hooked up the power dialer for Elliott. This year? Not so much.

I hated the stupid montage of video clips of the two finalists. They were way too contrived. Because no way did Kris, of his own accord, say, "I'm the voice in the crowd that needs to be heard" or "I am ready." And no way did Adam, of his own accord, say, "I am 1 of 100,000" or "I am a dreamer" or "I'm a superstar in the making." Okay, maybe Adam. But not Kris.

And then they cut to Ryan standing on a podium holding a mic and all I can think is, "Is that rotating American Idol tower going to fall?" I blame this show for my newly acquired stage PTSD.

And don't you love it when Idol gets all clever? Acoustic Rocker vs. Glam Rocker. Conway vs. California. And my personal favorite: The Guy Next Door vs. The Guyliner.

What on earth was Randy wearing (I could repeat that question for tonight as well)?? And are plaids and strips and polka dots now considered matching? I've noticed this trend recently, and frankly, it disturbs me. Kara work black. Paula wore . . . is there a name for that color? Lime? And Simon wore a jacket. Fancy.

Kris won the coin toss and decided to go second. Brave when you're up against Mr. Over the Top himself. I mean that in a good way since I like Adam. I just think going second after him might sound weak.

Round 1

We learned that Adam used to scream as a baby. And that he was hyper. All the pieces fall into place. And after the Coke bubbles take over his face on the video screen, we are treated to his pick of the season, Mad World. Smart choice. I love it. And he mixed it up from his other performance. Plus he dressed up like something out of Twilight and there was more fog.

I've liked Kara this season but watching her over the past few months has been like observing a steadily building human crescendo. Her use of superlatives is, to borrow one of her favorite terms, ridiculous. She's been steadily peaking and now she can't quite go any higher so she just looks like she tapped into some stash of crazy drugs while she starts screaming extreme adjectives at the contestants. And I keep wincing awaiting the explosion.

We then learn that Kris didn't like to sing in front of his family (something our son feels he has in common with Kris . . . perhaps we have a future Idol in our midst?) but gave his mother coupons for free Kris singing. Awwwwww. Then we got treated to Kris behind the piano singing Ain't No Sunshine, which was awesome. Falling Slowly is still my favorite on Kris, but this was a wise choice. For an underdog, he came across as extremely confident tonight. Brilliant.

Simon gives Round 1 to Kris after admitting that he might've been wrong in assuming Danny would win. Okay, well not in so many words, but we all know what it meant.

Round 2

This was the round of socially conscious lyrics. Adam sang A Change is Gonna Come and it was excellent. Kris sang What's Goin' On and it was very good but a little cheesy for me in arrangement. I do totally agree with Kara that these kinds of songs suit Kris quite well.

Simon calls Round 2 as Adam's (anyone else sensing a pattern year after year?)

Round 3

This is the round we all dread. Unless we're stupid enough to believe that they'll actually write something good for these contestants to sing. They're always looking at clouds and chasing rainbows and climbing mountains and reaching for stars and flying. And it's all a bit gaggy. Adam did okay with it. Kris didn't fare as well. I had hoped he'd "make it his own" (sorry, Greg) and go acoustic on it or something. But no matter what either of them did, the song was awful. Poor guys. That's just cruel. And one of them has to sing it tomorrow while confetti flies and fire sparkles rain down. Ugh.

It's anybody's game. I like them both. I really don't care who wins. Potato. Potata. I predict Kris will win because I imagine he's getting Danny's votes. Plus I heard something about the Christian right voting pro-Christian or anti-gay or something. And the GOP hasn't won anything in a while, so Palin may be mobilizing the voters. Heaven help us all. It really doesn't matter who wins. They'll both do fine. The lines were jammed. Go Adam. Or Kris.

Tonight

Or last night if you're being technical (hey, we got a late start watching it). I love finale nights. I love all the extra fun stuff they do -- funny skits, awards, famous guests . . . it's a party! Oh and they all dress in white and there are gospel choirs . . . I love finales! I'm giddy from the opening.

100 million votes. Sweet Frances. The GOP did rally indeed.

I loved the hilarious judge intros. LOVED them. For me for you, sweetie, it was uncompromising, distinctual, masterful brilliance. What was that?

Talking to the Idols at the onset with nonfunctioning microphones was a little anticlimactic.

But yay, the Top 13 entered in full force dressed in white! It was a little West Side Story meets Grease for me (for them), but I like seeing them all again. And I love that Matt had a matching fedora for every number tonight.

I read a very moving article about David Cook and his brother's passing a couple of weeks ago and, no lie, I cried. Hearing him sing that song tonight was very tender. I was amazed by his maturity and composure singing that haunting melody to those poignant lyrics. I love David Cook and thought what they did with that song was great. Nice guy, great rocker. Love him.

Our first Golden Idol Award goes to Norman Gentle. Raise your hand if you didn't see that one coming.

Then we listened to Lil butcher yet another song, only this time she did it while singing with Queen Latifah. Why she got to sing with a famous person, I don't know. They usually do that with the top 3. Wasn't she like 6th place? It, unsurprisingly, wasn't good. I don't understand the air time.

Loved Jason Mraz's group number. That guy rules. Plus he was wearing a peace t-shirt, cool hat, and was barefoot. He's like a total frat boy hippie. I like it. Choosing Alexis and Anoop was wise and having all 13 join in was great. I really enjoyed it.

Kris sang a duet with Keith Urban. Surprising combo, but I liked it. I dig Kris on the guitar. "I Wanna Kiss a Girl." I thought it would've been cute if he could've actually kissed his wife after that number. Mark noticed that they didn't have Adam sing this song. Enough on that. Was it me or did Kris sound better than Keith?

We were subjected to more crap that is the girls of this season. Glamorous, they sang (and spelled even). But glamorous they were not. They all looked hideous. What the ?? But then Fergie came out and sang. She has the face of Kirstie Alley but the body of, well, not Kirstie Alley. Ahem. Then they brought out the Black Eyed Peas. Holy hell, what was that?? Disturbing, but yet you couldn't help but watch those walking optical illusions. Boom, boom, boom. What on earth were they saying when the FCC imposed its 2-second rule and cut out part of the performance? Because if you listen closely, it should've been imposed twice. And it wasn't. Boom Boom that.

Ryan said, "Boom Boom Pow." I don't know how he stays employed.

I could've done without the return of Bikini Girl. Except for the part where they totally mocked her and new ladies (which were totally double sided taped, by the way). And the part where Kara came out and totally mopped the floor with her. LOVED that. And I love that Kara totally whipped open her dress for charity, too. At least she bares all for a good cause.

When I heard that Allison was going to duet with Cyndi Lauper, I was not excited. In fact, I was annoyed that they hadn't arranged a better match for our rocker girl. I recently heard Cyndi Lauper and it was decidedly NOT good. But I take it back. I liked it a lot. Cyndi is odd and plays the sitar. That's kind of cool. And they had a cool Indigo Girls sound about them. It was a really cool duet and the dynamics and harmony were fantastic. Allison is seasoned. You have to remind yourself that she hasn't yet graduated high school. Excellent.

Ryan does brief interviews with Kris's parents (why don't they ever talk to his wife??) and Adam's parents. I love that Adam's mom was singing along to EVERY song performed tonight.

Danny did a duet with Lionel Richie. Tonight I noticed how many songs Lionel has sung that have to do with playing as a way to avoid work. Chill. Just go. Party. Karamu. Fiesta. Forever. All night long. Raise the roof and have some fun. Dance on the Ceiling.

They did Adam's montage and I'm sad to say that they emphasized how Randy Travis didn't like Ring of Fire but failed to add how stupid he and Simon were on that one since THAT was a B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T performance. One of my very favorites. I LOVE that Adam rocked out with KISS complete with black and white face make up and wagging tongue (KISS, not Adam). It was AWESOME. KISS both scared me and impressed me when I was a kid. Not much has changed. It was so freaking awesome. And I loved the spiral-y fire rain in the background, even if the KISS guitarist is too old to smash his guitar the first 4 tries.

They then brought out Carlos Santana (I LOVE IDOL FINALES!!) and Matt Giraud joined him on stage with a black fedora and a shirt to match the guitar. It was AWESOME. And then all the idols in black and red came out to jam along to Smooth. Very nice.

Cool Ford commercial with Adam and Kris singing a nice tribute to all of the top 13. Very sweet.

Then David Cook presented them with what wasn't really that much of a surprise at all--new Fords! I see Kris driving that. Adam, not so much. Not sure what I see him driving though.

And then, in tonight's "What the . . . " moment, as if to totally parody the messes that are Michael Sarver and Megan Corkrey in one fell swoop, they had them sing songs about going out to dinner and walking by the river (la la la la la la la la) together 30 years ago while Steve Martin played the banjo. It was all a bit . . . bizarre. And horrendous. I mean really, really awful.

The boys came out looking smashing in their dark suits. And unlike the girls, who didn't look one bit glamorous, the boys did look sexy (well, some of them) as they sang, "If You Like My Body and You Think I'm Sexy." Rod Stewart came out and actually sounded all right for an older dude. He's still got it.

And then again, not surprisingly, Tatiana "graced" the stage. I called that before the finale even started. I called that during her tedious auditions and all the horrible camera time they've invested in her. Yuck.

The treat of the night for me was . . . I got my wish!! Adam did Queen!! WITH Queen! He is Freddy Mercury reincarnated! You could tell the band was LOVING him and eying him with a "I hope you lose so you can come be our new lead singer" look. That. Was. AWESOME.

While they sang, the gospel choir filed out, since there are like a hundred of them. And you just knew that, gods help us, one of them was going to have to sing that terrible No Boundaries song again, this time with gospel choirs.

And, as promised, Idol went over and the winner wasn't announced until after the initial 2 hours. Simon said a bunch of cheesy positive stuff, sounding a bit like Paula to be honest. Incredibly nice people? Both of you should be very proud? The future is all yours? Who's dipping into Paula's stash now?

Poindexter walked out, blocked the Top 2, and announced that he had a secret envelope. Ryan opened it up and announced Kris Allen as the winner. Adam looked genuinely happy for him (and I'm betting he is) and Kris was speechless. He kept trying to talk about Adam and the others while Ryan perpetually interrupted him (seriously, how is he still employed at what he does?).

He sang No Boundaries better than he did yesterday. It was so fun to see him sing it again, surrounded by the Idols, and then seeing it all hit him as he hugged his wife and cried. I knew he'd win (see, I AM clairvoyant) and I'm fine with it (though our son is not). I think we've mostly felt like whoever wins, wins. They'll both do fine.

Kris moved behind the judges and avoided the raining fire cheese that usually is the final song. Cute kid. Nice guy. Good singer. I'm happy for them both. And I don't have that stupid No Boundaries song in my head. No, instead I have this in my head:

Go-Go-Gokey

2009-05-13T23:11:00.000-05:00

Indeed. Let's get to it.

We start with Ben Stiller and company telling us that the American Idol desk is going to be in the Smithsonian. Smithsonian? Smithsonian! Hey, they're in a movie filmed at the Smithsonian! What an incredible coincidence.

And seriously? A desk? Who thinks that's a desk? It's more like a monstrous glitzy console. And I wonder, do the red coke glasses get to go to the museum, too? Because without them, it's just a table with the American Idol logo on it. Quite frankly, it's almost unrecognizable.

After that shameless movie plug and ~~a little~~ a lot of stalling on Ryan's part (Fringe viewers must be elated for that) so that Paula could get back from the bathroom, he introduced the judges.

We were then treated to the Ford video set to "Break My Stride." I proudly admit that I sang along to the whole thing and I remembered EVERY lyric. It's one of my favorites from growing up. All three contestants (top three male contestants - this is a first in Idol history and I like it!) exhibited their super powers in cartoon -- Adam can find secret walls that turn into grills with sizzling steak on them and save them from big dogs, Kris can get really big and blow ominous clouds away, and Danny can turn into Elastiboy and move traffic out of his way. Go buy a Ford.

And after Carrie Underwood's uncomfortably dreadful video appearance yesterday (“Have you ever had malaria?” No. “Good. Then the mosquito net’s working.” ), we got to hear something far more articulate from Alicia Keyes. Ryan asked the audience to give her a "warm welcome." Simon gawked like a dirty, old man. He's not one bit subtle. I gawked a little, too. She looked hot.

Then we got to hear a little Rwandan boy named Noah work the stage better than Jasmine Trias ever did. I think it's dang impressive that he learned the song in English in one week, but I just want to know if he was saying that his back was up against the law? I was unclear. My favorite part of his performance was when he danced up to the judges and shook their hands while dancing and singing. That's more coordination than Danny's ever been able to handle. And I love that Simon smiled and said, "Hello, Noah" while he sang. And Noah, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the first guest artists to not lip sync his performance, so he should get a prop for that.

Another thing I love about Top 3 week is getting to see the top 12 in the audience. I love the finale and the lead up excites me.

So, we also got to see their hometown visits. Danny returned to Milwaukee and got to see Jamar, be on the radio, pick Simon's nose on a weather map, and watch fans try to outrun his stretched out suburban. Ryan tells us several weeks ago that the studio uses earth friendly lights and other eco gadgets and then they blow it all on the emissions for that beast that holds one person plus the driver. Duh.

Kris returned to Conway, Arkansas. I hadn't really noticed that he's a good southern boy. That plays in his favor to win. Many an Idol comes from the South. So, Kris didn't just get a day in his honor. He got free cheese dip for life. Not sure what's better, that or the free Ford he'll get next week. I'm gonna have to go with the cheese dip. Kris got to go on the radio and tell caller 8 that he was a winner and then a loser. Then he got to see the enormous crowd that was waiting for him. I'm not sure what possessed him to jump into it, but he (and his three large bodyguards) did just that. Girls were grabbing him and tearing at his leather jacket. After that, his wife rode up front with him. Anyone else notice that his mom and his wife don't hug? Mother-in-law issues anyone? We hear from his parents, we hear from Kris, but nada from the wifey. During the parade, he got to see old ladies in pink dresses and green hair (they were confused and thought it was Adam's parade). And what on earth is with all the screaming 4-year-olds?? I thought teenagers and tweeners and maybe 8-year-olds were the types, but 4-year-olds? I don't care, though, because they played his "Falling Slowly" performance to the montage and I love that song. Kris is adorable and has quickly worked his way to the top of my list of favorites.

Then we got to watch Jordin Sparks perform. My, has little Jordin grown up or is it me? She was STUNNINGly beautiful. She looked fantastic. I think she's got great stage presence. Talk about passion. She flung her ring at the camera man! She's so comfortable up there and is dramatic and convincing in her presentation of lyrics. I don't know about you, but I ran out and bought some armor by the time she got to the first bridge. Move over Pat Benetar. Love is not just a battlefield. It's an all out war.

Adam got to go all the way to San Diego where he got to sign shoes, Guitar Hero guitars, and old men's polo shirts. He got to experience having a streaker rush him on stage. He also got to apply eyeliner to the anchor woman. Just a banner day all around. He then sang the national anthem at a military base. Don't ask. Don't tell.

Ryan then announced the next guest artist, Katy Perry, which got a big "who?" from me. It had slot machines. It had showgirls. It had raining money. She was wearing what I can only assume was an Elvis bathing suit. After seeing Alicia and Jordin on stage, the sequined bathing suit just wasn't doing it for me.

Then it was results time. I think I may have damaged a vocal chord when they announced that Kris was safe. YES! That announcement shocked two people on stage--Kris and Danny. Knocked the smugness right off of Danny's 5 o'clock shadowed face. It apparently shocked 4 people at "the desk," too. Oh well, my dears, over 88 million votes have spoken. And apparently, only 1 million separate Kris from Adam.

Gokey fans need not worry. You'll hear Danny on your favorite Christian Rock radio stations where he'll be using his husky, raspy goodness to sing about Jesus and rock-n-roll. That's what he wants to do and now he has the AI platform to launch it.

I am SO EXCITED for next week's finale. I like BOTH contestants. It really comes down to personal preference. I like them both for different reasons, but if I were buying CDs, it'd be Kris's, hands down. I like Adam a lot, don't get me wrong, but I don't think Adam is necessarily a slam dunk winner. They'll both do well (on the finale and in their careers) but it's anybody's game at this point. This past year, I thought for sure little Davie Archuletta was going to win and was thrilled to hear that David Cook beat him out. I don't know what will happen but I'm excited to watch!

Judges' and Contestants' Picks

2009-05-12T23:55:00.000-05:00

This is going to be brief because I'm tired. We've been working our tail ends off around here and we're beat. Also, my inbox has grown to over 100 emails. I owe some of you emails. They're coming. We're mostly just swamped.

JUDGES' PICKS

Danny's 1st song - I think Terrence Trent D'arby was a good choice but that song, not so much. It was okay but nothing memorable. In fact, I already forgot it.

Kris's 1st song - Loved it. Those first two judges are sometimes deaf to talent and style. I heard his originality in the song and I love his voice and easy manner.

Adam's 1st song - I didn't like the arrangement. I was so excited when Simon named the song ("One" by U2) but it was too Broadway and too far from the original. You know on his second song, Adam said he didn't change it up much because the original is so good. I wish he'd thought the same of One. Love the song, didn't like the performance or arrangement all that much.

CONTESTANTS' PICKS (Clearly they're better at this than the judges)

Danny's 2nd song - Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful?" Brilliant choice. Perfectly suited to Danny's voice. Well done. Loved it.

Kris's 2nd song - HOLY MOSES it was good. HOLY MOSES! I LOVED IT! I would buy his album in a heartbeat. Like Mark says, he's the most relevant of the 3. And I love that song 2 was a big "in your face" to Randy and Kara -- why didn't he do the first song with an acoustic guitar? That's why. Kris rules. He played sans band. Who does that?! And it was awesome. I loved it. And for those keeping score at home -- Kris played piano and then guitar. The other two did not play instruments. I know it's a singing competition, but I'm just sayin' . . .

Adam's 2nd song - AWESOME. True rocker. Love it. We have no one like him nowadays. Excellent. Well done.

Best to worst:

Kris's 2nd song
Adam's 2nd song
Danny's 2nd song
Kris's 1st song
Adam's 1st song
Danny's 1st song

Do you see a trend? I'm hoping for a Kris-Adam finale. :) And, as of right now, I think Kris may be my favorite.

And then there were 3 . . .

2009-05-07T09:54:00.001-05:00

Our kids spent most of the evening confused since Ryan was talking about sending everyone home, "safe" or not. You're safe! You're going home! It's the end of the road, you're going home! What? We had to keep explaining the difference between going home and going on a hometown visit. The whole thing really made the results much less dramatic.

I've decided that there are no surprises at this point since they're all good. I'm glad Kris is safe. I'm disappointed that Allison hasn't gotten the praise she deserves. That kid is extremely talented. I love her voice.

Beyond that, dear readers, I refer you to Magistra since she, as usual, captured it all so well. Enjoy. Click here for her very, very good review.

Idol Gossip

2009-05-06T21:53:00.000-05:00

Every week, I read Magistra's posts on Philly Burbs. I'd love to be discovered by some site or paper and be asked to write about Idol. Omigosh, can you imagine? Or Amazing Race. Or both!

I digress.

Her post about yesterday was VERY interesting and she pointed out something I hadn't noticed to the extent she had. After reading her review, we rewatched a few parts of the show and she is spot on . . . something was VERY wrong between Kris and Danny yesterday. Watch it again if you can--it's there. And you don't have to dig too hard to find it.

Anyway, check it out. And keep your eye on things tonight . . .

P.S. I love that she calls Kris a monchichi . . . the child of the 80s in me LOVES that reference. LOVE it.

What?! No Rockin' Robin?!

2009-05-05T22:13:00.002-05:00

Rock and Roll night finally arrived on Idol, which was a long-anticipated event for Thing 2. It pretty much played out like I'd expected--a widening gap between contestants, ridiculous comments from the judges, and the mosh pit full of posers. Slash was a fairly useless mentor as far as I could tell. He was good for the "is that a nose ring/watch me smoke a cigarette while playing guitar in a music video/topless guitar soloist from the 80s" sort of entertainment value, but I think all those drugs may have altered his ability to provide beneficial, constructive criticism for the contestants. They all seemed to "have fun," though, so score a point for another one-name wonder.

Now, let me make a list of my non-performance-related complaints (well, the ones I haven't listed yet). I'm just in that kind of mood, I guess.

*Predictably, Simon will start to turn on certain contestants in order to engineer a finale he's predicted, regardless of the true merits (or lack thereof) of each performance.

*What the hell happened to Kara? She and Slash must have shared a little somethin' somethin' before the show because she was out there! Maybe her hair was pulled back too tightly, at least the hair that wasn't trying to escape upward.

*Either the tower wasn't really that broken or that beverage sponsor wields some amazing power over the flow of the show because no way I do the cola interview under that thing!

*We deserve to know how the duets were picked, because the conspiracy theorist in me would say they're looking to influence the voters. The pairings were perfect, but a little transparency would be appreciated.

*I think Kara is making up words every week. It's like a new obsession with her. I've never heard of giving someone a "prop," as in one prop. I guess that's for when you're not sufficiently impressed enough to give out "props" or even better, "mad props."

OK, on to my contestant-by-contestant thoughts.

Adam Lambert: Really, all he could do this week was either hold steady or fail miserably. Obviously this is the week we really expected him to shine and that's what he did. I still think he's an amazing talent and deserves to be in the finale, but I wonder if his polarizing style will end up being much of a factor. I think there is a fairly sizable subset of the population that doesn't care for him at all. I just don't know if it 's the people that vote. His duet with Allison was great, by the way. It was so apparent that they were both in their element, enjoying the moment with each other, and I think the hugs and smiles were 100% genuine. In American Idol speak that's "1 million percent."

Allison Ireheta: She deserved way more praise than she got. What is wrong with people judging this thing? Even if they weren't crazy about the song selection, she still sounded great. I'm glad to see her give it back to Simon, and of course he was good natured about it. This girl is a great talent and based on tonight should go on without a problem. On her duet with Adam you almost get the feeling that we were watching the finale already, but there is one more week to go.

Kris Allen: I love how the judges called this legendary Beatles' song "not a great song." Give me a break. Randy made the most sense and was the most believable in his praise of Kris. Kris definitely infused his style into the song and made the most of a week where he was overshadowed by Adam before he even got to pick his song. Randy was right about his duet with Danny, too--the harmonies were great but the overall performance was just alright. Again, for a week where the genre was difficult, the duet sounded pretty good. They didn't seem as comfortable together as Adam and Allison, but it's tough to say whether it was because of the theme or chemistry.

Danny Gokey: Don't do that. Ever. No, no. Danny is no Steven Tyler. Not even close. I have no idea what he was thinking with this song. I don't know what would possess this church choir singer to try and scream at the end. I'm not entirely clear how Slash even held a straight face while discussing this song. It wasn't even a little good, and I'm sick over how the judges gave him more credit than they did Kris. There was no comparison. No, no. I like Danny, but I've got to be fair here.

I don't know how they'll break the news this week. Hopefully they just have the three guest artists perform and then hand out a single "you over there, you're going home." I'm sure there will be a bit more suspense, though.

Based on tonight, Skipping the Hometown Visit, but Still Getting One Prop from Kara: Danny Gokey

Rock Night on Idol

2009-05-05T22:12:00.001-05:00

Warning: I'm in a rare bad mood. Our hot water tank is having issues. Again. (Long story). And we missed both a concert and a party tonight to be here for the repair guy to come fix it. He didn't show nor did he call. We have a house guest coming in a week (that, we're excited about) and we want it fixed before he gets here (oh, it will be). And I might be slightly hormonal tonight. You've been warned.

So Ryan started us off by telling us that tonight we're "very live." I wondered if that meant no FCC 3-second delay for possible wardrobe malfunctions. But apparently it means that towers were falling and glass was popping and the Idols didn't get to have a dress rehearsal.

But, as they say, the show must go on. And now that I've watched it, I wish part of it hadn't. Yikes.

I know they have to do the weekly intro of the judges, but I really wish they'd just smile and wave. You know, like Paula does.

Instead we're subjected to Randy . . . what is that, woofing?, Kara opening her mouth and waving her arms like a groupie at a bus station, Paula (smile and wave), and disinterested Simon who sort of stares, looks like he's thinking about his next smoke break, and rolls his eyes.

And as if that's not enough, we also have to sit through Randy booing Simon every time he's introduced as if that's funny. It's not funny. It's insufferable. And whoever is in charge of his mic should be fired for not cutting his audio after his ceremonial woofing.

And Slash. As a mentor. Obviously a shameless plug for his new album, because honestly, he added absolutely nothing of value. He had nothing of substance to say and very little advice. Methinks his brain is a wee bit fried from one too many puffs of doobie (and yes, I had to Google that to find out if I was using it correctly. Shut up.)

Adam ("A Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin): Honestly he scared me a little. I like toned-down Adam better (think Ring of Fire, Mad World, Tracks of my Tears), though he obviously still did a slammin' job. Kara, with her magic rock hair, seemed extra hyper tonight. I mean, holy crap. Rock God? I might've enjoyed that comment if I hadn't spent the entire time wondering what my accountant brother-in-law would think of the performance while I looked for coded messages in Adam's eyes. So I can give credit where it's due, but if I'm being honest, I didn't love it. Personal preference. QUEEN. I said QUEEN, Adam.

Allison ("Cry Baby" by Janis Joplin): This girl just does NOT get enough credit. The judges should be pointing out constantly that she is the last girl standing. By. A. Freaking. Mile. Her performance may not have been her best to date, but dude, she's 17 and has mad, mad pipes. And when she finally talked back and let Simon have it? She won me over. And that's saying something, because the back talk is generally off putting to me. But tonight? I wanted to cheer out loud for her--the talking back was great and it was honestly about time. Unlike Lil who had the same nonsense to say every time after weekly horrid performances, Allison actually has substance, soul, sass, AND the ability to sing. So, you tell him, girl! She should be praised to the hills for what she does. And then some.

Duet by Danny and Kris: Okay, that was kind of weird. It was good. But it was also weird. I agree with Randy--the harmony was good, the individual vocals not so much. But, while neither of these guys is a rocker by nature, I think Kris is more natural at it than awkward Danny. Kris has a sexy Chris Daughtry stance and seems to have a very natural relationship with the mic stand and the stage. Whereas Danny just looks like he just signed up for dance lessons in a class during some awkward adolescent stage to --insert deep, manly voice here-- *scratch* "learn coordination for sports." *snort*

And the judges judging the duets is just stupid. But what really ticks me off is stupid jerkface Simon and his apathetic shoulder shrug and snide laughter, "What? What do you want me to say? Who's better?" Idiot. It's a duet. No one asked who's better. Moron.

Kris ("Come Together" by The Beatles): I think it's charming that he said of singing with Slash, "I almost wanted to pee my pants," don't you? I don't know that I'd call his performance the lunchtime equivalent of chewing ice made of mineral water. No, scratch that. I categorically would not have called it that at all. In fact, that analogy never would've entered my head, mineral, bottled, tap, or otherwise. It wasn't great, but I think Kris was smart to choose The Beatles. I think Kris's biggest challenge is being taken seriously. He has a baby face. He looks like some kid playing with his band in a garage when he's on stage. Kind of like that kid in that movie "The Rocker." I should know. We've been trying to get through that movie for 3 nights. I keep falling asleep. I apparently need commercials to fast forward. Kris's performance wasn't amazing, but he didn't deserve the slamming he got.

Danny ("Dream On" by Aerosmith): How'd you like that little Where's Waldo Find Danny in the mosh pit bit before the commercial? Yeah, me either. That was a train wreck. Danny actually got more credit tonight for "effort" and "risk" (neither of which paid off) than Kris did for actually singing well! That last note being like a scream in a horror movie? Now that is an analogy I can get on board with. And if we're going to critique, Danny's intonation is so bizarre (mirror becomes meeeror and true becomes trewwww). It's very distracting. But not distracting enough for me to not notice the horrible singing and performing tonight. What the ?? What on earth was he thinking? I don't think he was. That was really bad. The first part of the performance was way too slow and Danny looked drugged. Now I know he was doing it on purpose thinking, "Crap, oh crap. Sing slow, Danny. Drag it out, man. Maybe it'll go way over into Fringe and Fox will cut it off before I totally slaughter that last note. Dude, I cannot hit that note. What the hell was I thinking choosing this song? Fall, towers, fall!"

Man, I knew he wouldn't hit that note even before he started the song. Slash knew it. Remember Slash? The MENTOR. Obviously he knew it by what he said. Some mentor. At what point did he decide not to tell Danny that there was no way he was going to even come close to pulling that off? That was a wrong song choice if I've ever heard one. That should win some kind of "wrong song choice" award. And it should be displayed. In every Idol's mansion bedroom from this season forward, serving as a reminder that "No. No, no, no." As in no no no no no. (Sorry, I could only find it in Spanish).

My favorite part of Danny's, well, everything tonight was when Paula said, "How many Danny fans are out there?" and they went to shot of three 6-year-olds holding a Go-Go-Gokey sign and having a very delayed reaction to the question. That part made me laugh out loud. I think the nervous tension that had collected during his performance had to come out. It was just so wrong. That was a bad, bad, crazy bad last note. Poor Danny doesn't even know yet how bad it was. Like he said, he'll find out when he watches it back. Or perhaps he got a taste when the editors (who should apparently also be fired) decided to put that clip of his song in that reminder-of-tonight's-performances montage. Even Paula sat down from her dancing and air punches when he hit (or rather, didn't) that note. I think on some level, he had to know. Hence the awkward overcompensating with the band afterward. You know, the part that made me flashback to his dance class sign up? And then Simon's prescient "I think you're going to be safe" comment got an audible gag from me. Hmmmm, who did he predict would be in the finals? Oh yeah, that's right. Adam and Danny. And God forbid Simon be wrong. Idiot.

Duet by Adam and Allison: If there was a saving grace tonight, this was it. The singing was phenomenal, but it was only enhanced by their matching boots, twinner hairstyle outing to Adam's "hair girl," and how they absolutely ran to each other after their performance. I loved it! These two are natural rockers and it shows. EVERY time. Loved it. I've been vacillating between an Adam-Allison finale and an Adam-Kris finale, but tonight told me what I really want. Based on tonight, I hope it comes down to these 2 in the finale. They deserve it. Adam will win and that's fine, but this would be an enjoyable finale.

And based on tonight, Danny should go home. Or sign up for dance lessons. Or do sound effects for horror movies. Or chew ice for lunch. Something.

Best to worst:

Adam
Allison
Kris
Danny

Going home:

Anyone's guess. This top 4 rocks. Duets with any other top 4 would've bombed. Badly. Thank goodness Lil is gone.

4 Idols Left

2009-04-30T08:26:00.000-05:00

Well, it's the next day so that oughta tell you how busy we are. I mean, we haven't blogged about Idol yet. Seriously, where are our priorities?? This, together with my overloaded inbox, shows how crazy things have been around here.

But since we pretty much love blogging about this show, I want to say something. I do think, however, that Magistra said it best this week with this paragraph from her weekly post:

Next up was the LIVE! group song, which was much more in tune this week thanks to the absence of Lil Rounds. Matt Giraud kept throwing random riffs and falsettos into the performance wherever he felt like it. Kris Allen showed us that snapping and dancing are not two of his talents. And Adam and Danny received the biggest screams. During the performance of “I Got Rhythm” I found it interesting that Adam was not asked so sing one of the lines that included “I got my man/gal, who could ask for anything more.” I wonder whose decision that was.

What more can I say? Apparently, lots.

Let's start with the annual, not so surprising anymore, bottom 3 fake out. I really thought Adam was going to sit down and not choose. But I still admire how he handled it. Plus, I think it shows he hasn't been watching Idol all these years. He's been, you know, on stage.

But my biggest beef with the bottom 3 fake out is this . . . though they didn't specifically say what exact order they're all in, it stands to reason that Adam was probably in 3rd place. So technically he could've stood in either group and still have been right. If you're 3rd, you're both in the top 3 and the bottom 3. So, really, it was just a little "shocker" since it kind of really wasn't.

It's anyone's game at this point. It made sense for Matt to go. I've not ever seen such a great top 5. There's usually someone I can't stand at this point (and usually up to the top 2 or 3). But this year, that isn't the case. Lil left a week ago.

And that little bill? For $6,000? For that food fight they had? Seriously? I'd like to see the bill Dreamworks gets for the advertising for their new movie that Jaime Foxx slipped in before that commercial break. If maids cleaning cake are charging 6 grand, I can't even imagine what that cost.

And next week is rock week. Does it really matter anymore? Disco wasn't quite disco (thankfully). Jazz wasn't quite jazz (a bit of a bummer). Rock will be . . . what. I don't really care. Truth is, I've always liked theme weeks because the Idols have to find a way to sing a song that fits the genre while still making it their own and keeping it relevant. To a nerd like me, that's like Pi Day. I think it's great that it just doesn't matter. You know why? Because it means these Idols are they best they've had. They practically make us forget the theme because they're so good at making anything their own. This is the best Top 5 we've ever had. They usually have one or two stinkers in there by now, but not this year. You know, since Lil left.

I think next week is Adam's week. I'm expecting some serious Queen madness! (I hope you're reading, Greg!)

Idol Does The Ratpack

2009-04-29T08:24:00.000-05:00

Well, that will teach me to look up AI spoilers. Someone wrote up a list of what the Idols would be singing that they got from "a source from Ricky Minor's band" and all of them were wrong. They're either liars or the source is messing with them. I like the idea of the latter. Reminds me of when I would write wrong answers on my math test to screw over the chick who was cheating off of me to my left. I love when the geeks get one on the others.

And 2 numbers?? I guess by 2 numbers for each Idol, they meant numbers to call, not 2 performances each. Lame.

And I'm not generally one to look up spoilers. I only did it to help the kids become familiar with Rat Pack songs during our research of the Rat Pack itself so that they would excitedly recognize the songs. We listened to Jazz and Big Band all day yesterday. And yet, we categorically did not hear even one of those songs. Not one. Who knew the Idols would go all balladeer on us last night? So much for my "Hey kids, see that? Jazz is great music that makes you snap right along to it!"

But I am totally digging the look--all the Idols looked hot, hot hot. There's something about a crooner dressed in a suit that makes a girl melt a little.

Thing 2 pointed out that there were 5 Idols and 5 members of the Rat Pack and proudly used the word "coincidence" correctly. I love Word Girl.

So, they seriously invited Jaime Foxx to be a guest mentor?? Right after hosting Miley Cyrus?? That just seemed odd. Kind of like serving up crap for dessert after a mediocre meal. I'm having a really hard time liking Jaime Foxx after his little tirade about Miley. I'm not a Miley fan, but he was totally inappropriate. I had wanted to see that movie "The Soloist" but his tirade ruined it for me. Stupid Jaime Foxx.

I have to admit he was a pretty good mentor for the Idols, though. [sound of crickets chirping] Yep, that's all I've got.

I was hoping for Michael Buble. Sigh.

I warn you now. The Idol conspiracy theorist in me is in full force. Get ready.

Kris - "The Way You Look Tonight": First of all, I can't listen to this song without hearing a very nasal-y "I love the way YOU look EVERY NIGHT, Chandler Bing! Rha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha." It's disturbing. That being said, I think Simon was on drugs tonight, because Kris was awesome. He didn't mess with the integrity of the song while still giving it that very recognizable "Kris" sound. Artistry. This boy has it. He has such control and that last note was gorgeous. It gave me chills. He really is a "contemporary crooner." Simon was completely off base. Simon is stupid.

See, this is the point in the season where I start to hate Simon for putting his arrogant need to be right ahead of anything else. Simon doesn't know music. He knows what sells, I'll give him that. But when it comes to music, he is often wrong. And every season around this time, he starts to predict the final 2 (though I think it's hilarious how all of the judges have predicted just about all of them right into the finals . . . um, little memo to the judges--only 2 can be in the finals despite what you say or do, save or no save). Earlier this week, Idiot said that he would put money on an Adam-Danny finale. [Conspiracy Theorist] Hmmmm, I know! So that everyone keeps thinking Simon is sooooo cool and so good at what he does, let's have Danny and Adam have the more memorable 4th and 5th spots while giving the easier-to-be-forgotten spots to those other three. Oooh and then, Simon can slam the first 3, no matter how good their performances are, and tell them they don't have what it takes to win this or be a star. Then Simon can sit and smirk and smugly shrug and congratulate himself on being so freaking awesome and smart when Adam and Danny are safe and the others are in the bottom 3. [/Conspiracy Theorist] Hmph. Friends reference #2 (from 1:40 to the end).

Allison - "Someone to Watch Over Me": Did everyone catch the crazy fu man chu on the pianist? Wow! I love this song. She gave me chills, too. She did a beautiful job. I love her voice! I love how she can totally hold out power notes with such clarity and beautiful tone while having a rock-edge almost breathless raspiness in her lower register. This girl is awesome. And 16?? Simon is stupid. He's all doom and gloom. How can he seriously listen to that 16-year-old girl and think she doesn't have what it takes?! Have I mentioned that she's 16?! (Okay, 17, but barely!). SIXTEEN! Remember Diana Degarmo? Camille Valesquez? Jordin Sparks?? This girl can sing her butt off. And Simon's, too. He's just too busy being in love with himself to notice. Idiot.

Matt - "My Funny Valentine": See, when I hear this song, I really hear this (start at 1:05). Janice has apparently ruined many a jazz standard for me. So, Matt. I love the look and love the hat especially. No matter what he does, he still looks like Justin Timberlake. He, as usual, starts out shaky and gets better throughout. I think this guy has a major case of stage fright and I don't think he's ever really gotten over it. I'm always nervous for him and as much as I'd like to see him do well, he usually starts out a bit, well, not. And it's too bad, because they guy really does have mad talent. I personally liked the R&B vibe he gave the song. I like the riffs. Even though it wasn't perfect, as he got better, yes, this performance gave me chills, too. Simon was way too harsh on the first two. Then he praised this one. I don't get it. He claims his issue is confidence. I like Matt. A lot. But I actually think Kris and Allison have him beat by a mile when it comes to confidence. Stupid Simon.

Danny - "Come Rain or Come Shine": Hmmmm, not sure what Danny means about making it his own by giving this song a "bluesy feel." It IS a blues song. Maybe he was just nervous because Jaime Fox got in his personal space. He looked very nice and he was totally rockin' the house. Like Mark says, Danny has been consistently good (a la Ruben) so he sort of maintains rather than improves, but is that a bad thing? Danny is good, but I still think Simon is pitching his two pet favorites. Danny doesn't ever use his falsetto, which is fine, but I sort of like falsettos. His performance left Kara so breathless that she used a non-word saying he had "swag." Methinks she's been sitting next to Randy too long. What??

Adam - "Feelin' Good": Here I was all excited for a real jazz number and he rocked out. So, for those keeping count at home, that's 3 ballads and 2 rock numbers. So Disco week wasn't really disco. And jazz week really wasn't jazz. I'm starting to not really care what next week's theme is. Oooooh unless it's 80s! I want to see Adam do some Queen. I'm going to go ahead and leave that sentence. Think what you want. He would be phenomenal doing anything by Queen. If we're going to talk about "swag," Dude, Adam has swag. Lots and lots and lots of it. The staircase. The lighting. The white suit. It was really good. What can I say about Adam? He's got God-given talent. You can't learn that. It's all natural, raw TALENT. And I mentioned that I love when the guys use their falsettos, right? LOVE when Adam goes all Opera-mad, tongue sticking out, on his songs. I didn't love the arrangement, to be honest, but I can't deny that he performed the heck out of it. And that note at the end? Holy Moses! Boy can sing. Word.

When they wrapped up the show with Ryan standing by Adam, you could so clearly see their "opposite" suits . . . it was like a human Ying-Yang. In so many ways. And yet not. Wow, that's so very, very Zen. Ohm.

And did Ryan say, "Tomorrow night, Taylor Hicks, Natalie Cole, and Jaime Foxx?" What? No Michael Phelps? Well that's a motley crew if I ever heard one.

Best to worst:

They were all good but Matt was shakiest. But Simon is stupid, so I have no idea what will happen at this point. It'll be Adam and somebody in the finale, but I'd like to see it be Kris to be honest. Or Allison.

And an honorable mention goes to Paula for having an exquisite vocabulary even if she sometimes delivers her lines as if she's stoned. I like Paula and think she's smarter than we all assume. She used the word "alluring" tonight. I don't think the other judges or Ryan even know what that means. I love Paula.

I AM Clairvoyant!!

2009-04-28T08:23:00.000-05:00

I was only kidding! I was being sarcastic! Holy cow, I *am* clairvoyant!!

Hannah Montana duet with David Archuleta

Double Elimination on Idol

2009-04-23T08:21:00.001-05:00

I'm going to keep it short and simple.

I loved the Paula dance stuff. I hate it when they lip sync. When you saw all 7 on stage--2 stood out as having true rhythm in their very bones: Matt and Adam. Whatever their singing abilities, those 2 have artistry and you can tell they actually feel their music. And they are the only two who can dance.

HATED the washed up disco medley. OMG, it was uncomfortable and painful. When I was a little girl, my mom used to take me to Miss Senior Sweetheart. It was a little like that for me, only this time, the talent, and I use that term incredibly loosely, sucked. Botoxed faces and tight dresses on people who shouldn't be wearing tight dresses (without slips to boot), old ladies who sounded AWFUL and looked like Big Bird if Big Bird ever wore something totally revealing and inappropriate, saggy breasts pushed up and out with a wonder bra that did no wonders unless a squished jello look is sexy, and washed up Vegas Lounge performers (KC, what the ??). What a horrible, horrible thing to inflict on us, the faithful Idol viewers. That was just cruel.

And little David Archuleta came out and sang and it wasn't good either. He apparently hasn't stopped smiling since starting the competition 2 years ago. It makes my cheeks hurt to imagine how it must hurt. Did you catch that his mom is in his band? That was her on the keyboards. Though she kind of looked like David Cook's mom, I'm not sure. I can't wait for the David Archuleta-Miley Cyrus duet! I mean, like, it's gonna be 2 kewl 2 rule.

But ding, dong, Lil is gone. And Anoop. I'm down with that. I love that Anoop sang his swan song with his hand in his pocket like he was hanging out at a bus stop. He has reminded me of Zach Braff for much of this competition and that just clinched it.

I'm quite pleased really. The top 5 who remain are awesome and it's always so nice to get rid of those barnacles that just cling on and on (and on and on) and move forward with a boatload of true talent. I'm excited.

Disco, disco, disco . . .

2009-04-22T00:00:00.001-05:00

I am feeling a little cheated this week. No intro videos. No retrospective on disco and its relevance today. And more Lil Rounds. Honestly, I don't know why I watch this show sometimes! ;) I will go on the record, though, and say this is the best Disco Week I've seen on Idol in eight seasons. And the judges were fairly well behaved this week, and I see we're back to hearing from all of them after each contestant. I guess that's what skipping the intro videos can do.

Some other random observations: Ryan is very white. Just thought I'd mention it. I think Adam's pinky ring was the biggest ring I've ever seen in my life. It dwarfed Paula's ring by a mile. I'm so sick of any excuses starting with "I'm just . . ." Is it enough to have fun, or do you actually have to be good?! I'm surprised Simon missed a chance to associate shopping in the womens department with Ryan. And are we talking about ladies' underwear now? Randy really wanted to say this was a talented 6 rather than 7, but he was trying to be PC. There was some camera on the set this week that wasn't working right. The picture was jumpy during both Danny's and Allison's performances. So which guy from Saturday Night Live does Adam resemble?

Lil Rounds. I thought for sure she'd pick a Donna Summers tune, but Chaka Khan is close enough. How can Lil even think she was that original. I mean, she did try singing out of tune, and she did add a few runs here and there, but it was basically karaoke minus the scrolling lyrics at the bottom of the screen and a few drunk Japanese execs. And it's truly sad when Lil tries to defend herself by attacking criticism that wasn't even there. Here's how I remember it in my mind, and remember, I have perfect recall.

Lil: That was not karaoke and y'all are crazy if you think it was copycat.
Simon: We never said it was karaoke.
Lil: Well, I can see it in your eyes, fish 'n' chips, so cool it.
Simon: Your performance was hideous, but I didn't say "karaoke."
Lil: You want to, though. Don't you? Let's add lame, predictable, ridiculous, amateurish, out of tune, and nauseating while we're at it.
Simon: Your words. Not mine. Until now.

Even the outfit and hair extensions scream "I'm trying to be someone I'm not." I had enough 4 weeks ago. What do I have now?

Kris Allen. Again, my favorite of the night, although I could have used a bit better explanation of the song. This is the sound he keeps coming back to, and I think it suits him well. If I heard just a few bars of his guitar work I could probably say it belonged to Kris. I love the latin/carribean smooth jazz kind of sound he brings. His arrangements are so artistic and perfect. I always love when they bring Ricky Minor (obviously groovin' hard), Fidel the Cuban Washboard Guy, and Cesar Conga Dude up on the stage. For some reason it just feels good.

Danny Gokey. I think Simon was a little harsh with him, but I can see what's happening. Danny is kind of like Ruben Studdard was: steady and dependable. He's been outstanding this entire year but hasn't been able to muster a lot of originality to show growth. His interpretation tonight was different enough from the original to keep me interested, though. It doesn't hurt that I love Earth, Wind, and Fire either. Danny's another contestant that knows who he is and what he can do, so that keeps him competitive.

Allison Iraheta. Is that latex? And do they let minors buy clothes like this? Third straight performer with a well-defined style. I wasn't a huge fan of this performance, but man! This girl is great! Looking at her parents you'd never guess she can sing like this. I'm getting a little worried for her, though, since she's been hovering in or near the bottom 3 lately.

Adam Lambert. Apparently Adam is French tonight. The undeniable truth is that he is an amazing vocalist, and probably has the most talent of the bunch. It is incredible what he comes up with each week, even if he has help with the arrangements. Learning to survive in the music industry is learning to tap into resources in and around you. I didn't like his performance as well as Kris's, but I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't amazing. Randy's right: Adam is already there.

Matt Giraud. The hat is back and so is Matt. He gives off such an authentic R&B vibe up there it's unreal. This wasn't his best performance, but he was solid. I think we're approaching his competitive limit, though. He doesn't quite have enough to catch Adam, Kris, and Danny, but I'm glad to see him hold his own this week.

Anoop Dasai. I have a striped shirt from 1988 that will match Anoop's vintage, What Was I Thinking sweater. I think there's a skinny little tie to go with it, too. The bad news for Anoop is that the lyrics of his song do not bode well for his chances. Anoop's vocals were good, but the performance was sort of mediocre, and Anoop knew it. I did enjoy his father's half-hearted, "I really want to get into this but my manners prohibit it" kind of thumbs-down gesture.

BOTTOM 3: Lil, Anoop, Matt
DIMMING THE LIGHTS: Anoop
RETURNING CHAKA'S INNER GODDESS TO LOOK FOR HER OWN: Lil

Idol Does Donna Summer, I mean Disco

2009-04-21T23:22:00.000-05:00

Oh when oh when is big band night?? So, Disco. Can't complain, thankfully. Except for a couple of things. I will complain about some things. Let's begin.

I must say, I was particularly clairvoyant tonight, predicting what Simon would say before he said it. And being spot on every time. Uncanny.

Dramatic opening (again, so much better than the old recaps they used to do), "THIS is American Idol," Ryan runs down the stairs, hurries through his cue cards lickety-split, introduces the judges as fast as he can (someone either read my blog or recognized on her own how stupid and tedious the stage entrance was for the judges), quick get the idols on stage, no mentors, no intro videos, hi, bye, everyone leave but Lil and GO! Pant, pant, pant . . . obviously Fringe viewers were ticked. Two weeks of going over. Clearly that ain't happening again this week, Idol Powers That Be. Nuh-uh.

Too bad we couldn't move that fast through the first performance.

Lil Rounds - ("I'm Every Woman" by Chaka Khan) She couldn't have chosen a more predictable diva choice. My clairvoyance began when I noted a couple of notes in that Lil was sick. Not that that excuses her bad singing on any other weeks. Or this one for that matter. And she's right, you know. That wasn't Karaoke. That was Karaoke on steroids at Disneyland. Except that it was bad Karaoke on steroids at Disneyland. Hell, she even looked like Donna Summer. Holy crap, it was bad. So so bad. So very, very bad. And she had to overtalk again. UGH. Why, oh, why did Ryan have to ask what her inner goddess was saying. We all want her inner goddess to shut up when on stage. Did she look ticked or what. Man, she was boring holes into the judges. They were spot on tonight--she has no idea who she is as an artist. But she had fun. Whoopee. The only positive thing I can say is that I don't like pantsuits and yet she looked nice. Yep, that's all I've got. She is the antithesis of original and her time is so far past up it's like watching a child who won't go to bed when it's bedtime. Done. Done, done, done. Two eliminations tomorrow? They should both be for her. For emphasis.

Kris - ("She Works Hard for the Money" by Donna Summer) Um, this guy is nothing short of brilliant. And cute brilliant at that. I loved it. LOVED it. For a second week in a row, I seriously preferred his performance to Adam's! Gasp. We suffered through an uncomfortable introductory interview by Ryan where we learned that Kris chose this song because a woman worked hard to make money. Riveting. How much does Ryan get paid to ask questions? Ryan's losing his edge as far as I'm concerned. I think it's in his closet somewhere. I think if he'd just step out and be authentic, it would be less uncomfortable because maybe he'd be less awkward. So, Kris. WOW! Brilliant performance. Fabulous arrangement. LOVED it. Loved it. Randy so totally went over the top in his compliments. You know why? Because he BLEW it last week. Idiot. Kris is fantastic. I don't care where he shops. Brilliant!

Did you notice all the extra Fringe commercials tonight, too? We saw several (as we zoomed through them on our TiVo). I think that was a big "Take that!" to the Idol producers.

And you know else is so uncomfortable to watch? Those stupid shots of the idols that are about to sing. You know, the ones where they're acting out goofy stuff to fill the time during the AI pre-commercial theme music like "Oh, I can't see very well" and what's that? Allison is wearing Danny's glasses? Oh! Hahahaha. Yeah, not funny. Just smile and wave.

Danny - ("September" by Earth, Wind, and Fire) The guy can sing, but my clairvoyance shined through again when I predicted that Simon would say it wasn't a great performance. Have you seen Earth, Wind, and Fire? The singer in that group is INSANE on stage. Danny looked like he was simply meandering around while singing the crud out of that sung (boy can sing). I don't have much to say on this other than that--good vocals, boring performance. Sing with the back up singers, stroll around the stage, sing with the back up singers, yadda yadda. Loved the shot of Danny's sisters, though. There were like a million of them. Reminded me of Joey Tribbiani. Paula yells out that she'll see him in the finals. I'm not sure what finals she's attending, but the rest of us will be enjoying Adam vs. Kris, methinks.

Anyone else notice the odd blond girl behind Simon that kept cheering during his criticisms? Very strange.

Allison - ("Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer) Again I ask, what was she wearing?? She was rather provocative tonight for a 16 year old. It was a bit odd to hear her rocking out about wanting some hot stuff and hot lovin' while dancing seductively on the stage. I'm guessing her mother has no idea what that means based on her sweet "where's my translator" smile from the audience. She's so cute. Gotta get me a mini one of those for my pocket. Allison is the only girl worth anything in this competition and always has been. Not my favorite performance for me for her, but still very good. She definitely needs to be the last girl standing in this.

Adam Lambert - ("If I Can't Have You" by the Bee Gees) His voice is beautiful, gorgeous, soothing, inspiring, pitch perfect . . . I love the tone of his voice. It was a great performance again, but of course he doesn't deliver anything less than amazing time and time again, so that wasn't surprising. I kind of wish he'd done something up tempo, truth be told. I don't want the unexpected, slowed-down fast songs to lose their ability to wow us and I fear they could if overused. That being said, he's still brilliant. And the tone of his voice combined with the passion he exudes pierces to the core. And his false, as always, is gorgeous. Love him. Paula was melting into a "pool of Abdul." I knew Simon would love it but not be jumping out of his seat over it. My foreknowledge strikes again. Paula, yet again, predicted that he'd be in the finals (well, duh). She has now predicted that 3 people will be in the finals. I don't think she's clairvoyant.

Matt Giraud - ("Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees) He looks so much like Justin Timberlake that it's almost distracting. I loved the funky vibe on this song and Matt's got some nice Timberlake-like moves, too. I liked it. Love his voice. He'd be even better in a studio, but dude has rhythm, style, and a serious mojo when it comes to music. And he has a falsetto that is out of this world. And artistry? The word of the season? Yeah, that. He has artistry.

Bowling, shopping, "Pauler" is on one tonight. Her plays on words are so fun. I'm going to put her in my pocket, too. And did some dope in the audience audibly cheer when Simon dissed the performance? Not very bright.

Camera cuts to Anoop doing a little "oh, I didn't shave!" routine. Ugh. Smile and wave. That's it. Ryan drinks out of Kara's glass. Honestly, grown up Hollywood types often remind me of everything I didn't like about high school. Blech.

Anoop - ("Dim All the Lights" by Donna Summer) Our resident frat boy. I like how he had some facial scruff to go along with the untucked shirt, making him look like he's late for math class this time. Man, he's really mixing it up. It was good, but why was that the last performance of the evening? They usually save the wow factor for the end and that was more like a slight snooze fest. I mean, dim the lights? Yikes.

And now a word about the save. STUPID save. So stupid. I've NEVER liked the idea. And I still don't. It's a STUPID ratings ploy. And it's stupid. When they introduced it, they did it all Idol-dramatic like talking about early exits like, GASP, Chris Daughtry and Tamyra Gray. Have I mentioned the word stupid? Because those were STUPID examples. Chris was in 4th place and so was Tamyra, so the stupid save wouldn't have done jack squat to save them. You hear me? Jack. Squat. The save can only be used up until the top 5. So it's really not a save at all, but more of a twofer. Two people get kicked off in one week instead of one at a time. So STUPID. So, you don't get the scare of the bottom 3. You know, those weeks where a favorite is inexplicably at risk of getting booted and people panic and vote like mad the next week to make sure that doesn't happen again? Yeah, can't do that this week. They're there. They're gone. STUPID. Stupid save.

Want more clairvoyance? That stupid save is going to do more harm than good. Someone who shouldn't be going home just might all because of that stupid save. Grrrrr.

Best to worst tonight:

Kris
Adam
Allison
Danny
Matt
Anoop
Lil
Lil (for emphasis)

Who should go home: Lil, twice over. Okay, Lil and either Matt or Anoop.
Who will go home because of the stupid save: Lil and someone who shouldn't (like pretty much anyone other than Matt or Anoop, though I could handle Allison or Danny as long as one of them accompanies Lil, because let's face it--the finale should be Adam versus Kris where it comes down to what style you prefer. Or I like them both, so who cares as long as they both do well). Stupid save.

Idol Top 7

2009-04-15T14:52:00.001-05:00

My opinions tonight may surprise you. But I must start out by perhaps stating the obvious. How is it that 5 adults, several producers, and an entire crew can't rein it in to keep their show in the 1-hour time limit? And honestly, it's their eighth year, the judges should have clued in by now.

Here it is all nice and simple like: STOP TALKING SO MUCH. They go on and on and on and on and on with the first few Idols (and with each other) and then rush through the final 2 as if they're running out of air.

So what happens next? I can only assume that Fringe viewers wrote letters of protest that their show was cut off by Idol. Fox caught grief and passed it on to the Idol producers who then sufficiently scared Ryan into keeping it moving and the judges into quieting 2 of their team per performance, but who apparently didn't get the memo to Lil who felt the need, agaaaaaaain, to argue back to the judges trying to justify why her songs still suck.

And they still went over!! You know what would've saved some time? If they'd STOP TALKING SO MUCH. Why must we sit through such ridiculous numbers of hyperbolic adjectives to describe each judge? We see them twice weekly on every show of every year. Randy, Kara, Paula, Simon. We get it. Hell, the 7 Idols we hardly know barely get a cursory walk on stage with maybe enough time to smile or wave. Take note, Ryan. STOP TALKING SO MUCH.

First off, Kara? Provocative? How exactly? Do you even know what that means? And did we need to spend so much time on Paula's bejeweled ensemble? Or Randy's yellow stripe? Vibrant? Congenial? Are you kidding me?! I don't think you even know what those words mean.

iTunes, Coke, AmericanIdol.com . . . we get it already. And, newsflash, we TiVo these shows. So besides skipping the commercials, we fast forward all the in-show commercial advertising, too. Except the blatant, giant red cups. We just ignore those while the judges don't STOP TALKING SO MUCH. My word, even their explanation of why only 2 of them can talk this week instead of 4 took far too long.

So tonight we got to sit through all of that PLUS the insufferable Quentin Tarantino. Didn't like him when he was on the show before. I was only marginally more impressed this time. Either way, I still don't get why he ever even has a role in this setting. He has no place judging or coaching musical contestants. He's a movie director! Now, maybe if he'd been directing tonight's show instead of "coaching" the contestants, they wouldn't have run over. Who knows. It's just insane that they presented a several minute bio about this guy when they don't have time!! Argh. He's so . . . weird! He's like kinda shifty-eyed psycho, kinda over-the-top manic, and kinda Marty McFly in a bowling shirt all at the same time. Not sure how he pulls that off, but it's odd and a little uncomfortable.

So, songs of the cinema. Or cheese, cheese, and more cheese. Here we go.

Allison Iraheta (Don't Want To Miss A Thing):

Quentin's sage advice: Sing it while I sit in a chair.

This theme week is just not complete unless someone sings this most-overplayed Idol song. This song was too low for her. But despite that this was not at all her best week (and I liked the song even less than I thought I would on her), she finally got the praise she deserved. Let's just hope her number one position tonight doesn't hurt her in the voting. Tonight's song notwithstanding, her performances until now should propel her forward. I have no idea why this girl has even ever set foot in the bottom 3. She is the best girl they have and has been all along. And Simon finally said it tonight. Girls' only hope indeed. Rock on.

Anoop Dawg (Everything I Do, I Do It For You):

Quentin's invaluable advice: Rough it up. (What the . . . ??)

Dude, that was AWESOME. I loved it. Wanna know how much I don't like this song? My first boyfriend held my hand for the first time during this movie and I still don't like this song. And I've grown so very tired of this song over the years that I always switch the station when it comes on the radio. And despite all that, I loved this song on Anoop tonight, Dawg. That was hot! I like it better than the original! By a mile. If this performance were on the radio, I wouldn't switch it like I would the original. It was in key, sung well, and performed well. I really liked it. Not sure it'll save him from the bottom 3, but I'm digging the rumpled up, math geek, Indian, frat boy singer.

Adam Lambert (Born To Be Wild):

Quentin's wise advice: None really. He likes Adam, "only got a taste," and he liked it. (Funny coincidence--I just read a comment on YouTube today where someone wondered what Adam tastes like. What an odd question. I don't know. Pop rocks?). Methinks Mr.Tarantino was a little starstruck with Adam.

If anyone can pull off any song, it's Adam. He was, yet again, freaking amazing. This was not at all my favorite performance by him, but that's mostly because I don't like this song either. Yes, that's 3 for 3 for those keeping score at home (actually, I like the Aerosmith song; it's just so very overdone on Idol). That said, I've got nothing but praise for Adam. I LOVE this guy and think he is one of the hottest, most likable, most talented Idols they've ever had. Ever. Perhaps Paula said it best yet again when she explained that Adam "dares to dance in the path of greatness and fortune smiles on him" or something like that. I like the Monkees wool cap he wears when he meets with the guest mentors. Nice. And his falsetto is insane. INSANE! This guy is supernatural. There is no other explanation for that kind of freaking raw talent.

Matt Giraud (Have You Ever Loved A Woman):

Quentin's shrewd advice: Don't lose the lyrics.

After what Daughtry did with this song, no one should ever touch it again. Including Bryan Adams himself. Because, yes, it's another overdone, overplayed song. And another one I don't really like. But you know what? Matt was awesome tonight (except for that one little part in the bridge where he hit that really wonky note). I loved it! I love his look, his easy manner, his madskillz on the piano, his voice, his arrangement, his touch of soul on songs like this . . . I think it was great. He went into his false when I didn't expect it and I liked it. I'm totally worried for him. If we have another pre-Lil casualty, I might just scream. And it wasn't nearly as bad as the 2 judges said it was. Ugh.

Danny Gokey (Endless Love):

Quentin's prudent wisdom: Put your hands in your pockets. Honestly, I don't know how the Idols would've ever pulled off this week without him.

Urgh. Yes, you guessed it. Not this song! This song is normally a duet. Rickey Smith did this song in Season 2 and it was HOT! Watch:

He did BOTH parts. Danny did a good job with this song, but it wasn't great. It was good. It was copycat (but with a harp). He looks so much like my cousin Little Johnny that it distracts me, especially this week without his funky glasses. But I digress. I don't know. It was just . . . okay. Heartfelt, good, well done, yes. But just okay. And yet again, he didn't follow the mentor's advice. His hands weren't in his pockets. I saw them.

Kris Allen (Falling Slowly):

Quentin's inspiring counsel: Have you thought about playing an instrument? Think about it, but it doesn't matter either way. Aren't you glad I'm here?

Dude, this was DA BOMB TONIGHT!! I loved this performance. WOW! I actually liked it even better than Adam's! I'm telling you, this song during the right love scene in the right movie would MELT me. Day-um! DAY-UM! I really loved this! What a gorgeous song!! Fabulous. Beautiful. Wonderful. I loved it. Kris is utterly adorable and has such a great look and manner. I really, really like this song. It's hauntingly, deeply gorgeous. It started out well and got better throughout and it was raw and it was pure and it was GOOD. Randy was wrong. Kara was SPOT ON! He DID have moments in there. She felt it. I felt it. It was AWESOME.

Lil Rounds (The Rose):

Quentin's most inspiring advice: Commit to singing it straight so that when you switch to gospel, it really soars (this was actually the best advice of the night, even if Lil Diva ignored it completely).

Argh. Does it matter anymore? You know why they had her sing last and had Simon critique her? So we can finally be rid of her. It'll stick in people's memories more to NOT vote for her. I actually like this performance on her more than any of her previous ones and at least she didn't do Whitney or Celine (we had predicted The Bodyguard for sure), but it's too little too late. And she's just not as original as so many of the others this season. She has already overstayed her welcome. I would've preferred a little more Lite FM singing from Scott to this drivel. I'm done with Lil. But of course you already knew that since I was done with her like 7 weeks ago. It's so passe already. What did Paula say to her? The road is long? What? Simon was right. And her back talk is intolerable. And she must be frustrated after weeks and weeks of not getting what they're saying, I'm sure. But she's not getting it and it's time to be done.

And still . . . 3 minutes over.

Fringe fans are renewedly mad. Can't say that I blame them. Now that Simon can't blame the girls, who will he blame? Maybe Mr. Tarantino has some suggestions? Sit in a chair, put your hands in your pockets, and don't lose the lyrics.

Heaven help us tomorrow when we have to suffer through a Miley Cyrus performance. Have I mentioned we have TiVo?

Best to worst tonight:

Kris
Adam
Anoop
Danny
Allison
Matt
Lil

Boquinha out.

Let's Go to the Movies . . .

2009-04-14T22:58:00.000-05:00

There is so much movie music that it's hard to fathom any contestant making a poor song choice, but alas, every year most of the contestants choose songs that are just (to borrow another judge-ism) "aight" for me. I thought the night went pretty well, and overall everyone did as expected. Admittedly, I was less than enthused about QuentinTarantino and what he would bring to the table (do his beady eyes remind anyone else of Conan O'Brian ?). He was a guest judge back in Season 3, and I was as unclear then as I am now as to why he needs to be involved. I was pleasantly surprised tonight as he seemed to have some decent suggestions and didn't venture too far into areas of music that he doesn't understand. And he kept it pretty positive and relevant (at least on the clips we saw) so all in all it was good enough.

So, why do they feel the need to cut back on judges comments rather than ridiculous, corny, make way for the yellow Steve Urkel (Carl!) sweater Randy's sporting and Simon King of All banter? If this show is really about the singing, why is the majority of the wasted time dedicated to the "look at me, I'm on TV!" nonsense Ryan indulges in with the judges? Yes. I said "indulge." With that said, every year they struggle with time when they hit the one-hour shows so it is no surprise to me that with 4 judges this year they couldn't figure out a way to fit it in. And, in case you were unaware, all of these songs are available for download oniTunes.

Allison: I can't help but think of the Big Mac song when I hear about "special sauce." I thought it was gutsy to pick the song she did since it's been done a lot on Idol in years past, including David Cook last season. It was definitely keyed too low this week and she was shakier on it than I would have expected, but overall she did a great job. She's got the vocal talent to be a legit contender for sure.

Anoop: Awesome! Unfortunately I think he's been treading water for so long that it won't be long before he gets pulled under for good. He had one of the best performances of the night and I'm glad he didn't start barking and peeing on a fire hydrant like Quentin seemed to want him to do.Anoop brought his own R&B flair to a classic song. Nice.

Adam: This guy can sing, and he's got incredible talent. I hate this song, though, so no matter what version he came up with or how great a singer he is I was destined to have a sort of "so what" kind of reaction to it. What I'd really like to do is find the path of greatness and dance a bit down it. I think Simon is right tonight when it comes to Adam: either you love it or despise it. His phone line was the only one with a busy signal tonight so I'm guessing most of America, or at least the voting segment, loved it.

Matt: This guy is destined to be the yo-yo performer of the season. They had the wrong judges critiquing him on this one because I've heard him twice now tonight and it was nowhere near as bad as they made it out to be. He did a great job of spinning the song in the right direction for his natural voice and talent, and overall he gave a solid performance. I'm scared for this guy, though, since he can't seem to get the judges behind him consistently enough.

Danny: Sort of vanilla this week for me. Vanilla is classic. Most people like vanilla to some extent. You can dress up vanilla to suit any occasion, but you usually need to add a little something to enjoy it regularly. If only Danny had added even a few vanilla bean flecks or something. Maybe singing with his hands in his pockets would have added something. Coming out on stage with a harp is the same as adding a little sugar free scoop to your vanilla. Danny is headed for a solid career as an inspirational, adult contemporary kind of performer--probably where he thought he'd be in the first place. (Here are two performances of this song that are better than plain vanilla: Rickey Smith and a surprising duet. Maybe telling us the song was from "Happy Gilmore" would have dressed it up a bit more.)

Kris: This was one of those brave song choices that I think paid off. It was not perfect, and there were a few pitch problems, but not many. I think Kara heard the real performance and Randy was daydreaming about playing with Journey or something since he hasn't had many chances this year to name drop. Kris picked an obscure song, but one not too obscure since it was an Academy Award winner. Anyway, it was one of those songs that haunts you. I've never seen the movie "Once," but I can picture the scene for this song. On a night of predictable song choices, Kris really stood out . . . in a good way.

Lil: I feared this would happen. Lil didn't deserve to make it this far, but now she gives a performance just strong enough to buy one more week. She made a crappy song choice, did something fairly original and appropriate by showing her gospel soul side, and then finished with shaky notes and average vocals. I can't blame her for being frustrated--it's obvious she really tried to do what the judges have been telling her to do, and even seemed to get it a little, and she still got ripped for being boring. See, if we'd gotten rid of her earlier we could have spared her all of this ill will.C'mon people! Let's get it right this week!

OK, just to be clear, these are my predictions, not my personal preferences.

BOTTOM THREE: Matt, Lil, Quentin
FINDING MORE TIME TO GO TO THE MOVIES: Matt

More on the results

2009-04-09T08:27:00.000-05:00

Magistra is one of my favorite columnists who writes about Idol. I read her stuff every week and have for years. I was so excited for her when she got picked up by Philly Burbs. Her results recap was particularly good this week and worth a link.

Here is my favorite paragraph that totally made me laugh out loud:

And finally, there were your results, America. This week, you decided to be totally un-PC and put the African-American girl, the Indian guy, and the blind guy in the bottom three. When all was said and done, America decided that they no longer liked the blind guy.

Read the rest here. Subscribe to her newsletter if you like. It's so worth it. She's really good.

Idol Does Birth Songs

2009-04-08T08:39:00.001-05:00

Every year. Every year they run out of time for the top 8. And yet they continue to make it an hour-long show. And they continue to fill it with nonsense at the beginning. And they continue to rush us through the wrap up, making us feel dizzy and used by the time the "19" fireworks flash.

People who only TiVoed one hour tonight are going to be SO. MAD.

Before I get to anything about tonight, someone please tell me who the cyborg is in the audience tonight. Who is he? Why is he there? Why doesn't he move? Why doesn't his master make him applaud? Or blink?

I was glad to see them dispense with the judges' dramatic stage entrance and while they were all adorable babies (particularly Randy), I could've done without this segment in order to hear more Adam praise. Stupid producers.

Danny - So Gokey is the oldest and he was born in 1980. Where is my Geritol? I didn't recognize that version of "Stand By Me" but it rocked and he started out the night very, very well. There are some clear front runners in this competition and Danny is one of them. And he did a little scatting. I happen to love that.

Kris - Oh man, so that mini-interview on the stools with Ryan about the judges' awesome praise was like a really bad foreshadowing. I think he did well. It wasn't great, but it wasn't awful. Boring song, yes, but he'll be fine. I'm not tiring of him. I am, however, tiring of Simon's indulgent use of the word 'indulgent.'

Lil - Ugh. Tina Turner? A step up from Celine and Whitney, but still not Mary J. Blige. I think Lil is on her way out. And deservedly so. I predicted she'd get boring. And I was right. Listening to her say she'll do it next time for the umpteenth time is just painful and uncomfortable at this point. She's done. There is no next time. She's run out of time. You can't wait until 8 weeks in to show us that you'll listen to the judges' advice and do what suits you. Pack your bags, Lil. Nice hair, though.

Anoop - Dude sang True Colors. That rocks. The interview before was a little painful from Ryan's awkward attempt to talk about sports to his Tyra Banks wannabe attempt to stir up controversy where there is none. And Anoop can somehow pull off an Easter ensemble while still looking like he just came from math class. But dude can sing. I loved it. I love what Anoop did with this song. He done Cyndi Lauper proud. And he went beautifully into his false. Perhaps Paula said it best, "You did show your true colors, just like a rainbow." Classic. Classy. Well done.

Scott - He plays guitar? Okay, before everyone gets grumpy about his off notes, I want to say that I love this song and think it's one of THE most romantic rock ballads of the 80s. Okay, so his performance was reallllllllly painful at times. And I'd like for him to succeed, but after Lil, he's next. And then it'll be Allison and the boys battling it out for the finals. I'm LOVING this season! But we're talking about Scott. Nice kid, decent voice, rough performance, great sense of humor, a little out of his depth. He's bottom 3, but Lil should leave first.

Allison - I love that her pediatrician was so clairvoyant and that her mother totally bought into it. Her mom is so cute, you want to carry her around in your pocket. Oh! With Anoop's mom! Wouldn't that be fun? Little live dolls with cute accents. I love the idea! So, Allison did brilliantly tonight. She was wearing the head cheerleader's prom skirt from the year of her birth, but maybe I'm just shocked that she was born in 1992. The same year I graduated high school. Allison is nothing short of amazing. 16? She's brilliant. And deserves to stay around for a long time. This girl doesn't deserve to smell the bottom 3. And Simon's a self-indulgant idiot. She does so have a personality. You just have to not be so wrapped up in yourself that you miss it.

Matt - Scott setting up haunted mansions. Matt as a sassy angel. Who got these clips? I totally dig the hat on Matt. I've been hoping he'd break that out soon. I love it. I totally dig this guy. You know what? I can't stand this song and yet he made me like it tonight! He totally "soul"ed this song. Did he just look like he was going to cry when he got the (well-deserved) mad praise? I'm so happy for him. He's SO done with the bottom 3 this week. The girl judges were totally digging it. Well done, Matt. Well done indeed.

So, anyone else notice that when Ryan ran the numbers, they were already out of time? Or, if you're like some people, that's where your TiVo cut out? (A little hint: always set your TiVo to run over about 15 minutes during Idol). At least do that if you're as crazy for this show as we are. Hey, it's pretzel night! People were going crazy looking for it on the web. Here it is if you missed it. Or if you saw it and simply must see it again because it's brilliant:

Adam - Um, need I say more? I feel like I've already gushed about how awesome he is in my chat with my brother-in-law Greg tonight. But I'll do it again. He was phenomenal. PHENOMENAL. I had this massive sense of anticipation the whole show to see Adam and what he'd do and in NO way did he disappoint. Plus I love when they interview his mother and she's all, "Oh it's okay if he's not successful as long as he's happy, even if he's driving a taxi!" And then his Dad says, "It'd be nice for him to be successful, too." They're hilarious. But this performance! WOW! Talk about song choice! MAD WORLD?! Tears for Fears?! Is he freaking kidding me?! Who has done that?! NO ONE, that's who. NO ONE. And he did his own BRILLIANT take on it. UNbelievable. He slowed it down a bit. From the very first notes, I was freaking out that he was doing that song. He is BRILLIANT. Well done. Standing "O" from Simon. Well done.

And I love Paula. I love how she gets up and dances to every song. She reminds me of people you see who drive around singing at the top of their lungs, devil may care. I love her comments. I love her rhetoric. I love her sense of humor.

I'm not any kind of crazy stalker, but I often think it would be fun to host her for a weekend. You almost feel protective of her. People can be so cruel. So she seems like she's on drugs sometimes. I like her. I think she's adorable. Plus, I'm one of the millions of little girls who sang and danced along to "Forever my Girl" and "Straight Up" with reckless abandon. And I'm totally proud of it.

So, Best to Worst tonight:

Adam
Matt
Allison
Danny
Anoop
Kris
Scott
Lil

Going home: Lil

Am I Really That Old? (Idol Style)

2009-04-07T22:53:00.001-05:00

When one of the contestants on American Idol was born just months before I graduated high school, I start to realize that I've put in enough time to earn the grays I'm sporting. These birth year theme nights are really cool because they are broad enough to sample a lot of different sounds, but yet narrow enough that the contestants don't (necessarily) make such rotten choices. As we've seen, some contestants still find a way to make poor selections, but they just can't help themselves. Some people can't dress themselves. Some people don't know what song to pick. It's just how it is sometimes.

I'm glad the judges just appeared magically in their seats rather than walking through the ridiculously slow sliding stage doors. It's like when you try to rush through the automatic doors at the grocery store and they don't quite open fast enough and you're left with a dented milk jug and sore forehead. Never happened to any of you? Yeah, me neither. I thought they were trying to conserve time but we see that wasn't the case. Stacy was talking tonight about how cute she thinks Paula is, and how sometimes what she says is so flowery and 'round about, and I had the thought that she is like a Portuguese greeting card.

Non-sequitor thoughts begin, here--> To illustrate, when my Portuguese mother-in-law goes on a trip, all of her sisters and brother and nieces and nephews and neighbors and Portuguese grocers call to wish her a good trip and much happiness and much love and big kisses to all of her family and safety and the grace and protection of the Lord and . . . and . . . Add in a Happy Birthday and you've got Hallmark, the Lisbon version.

OK, on to the recap . . .

Danny: I loved the arrangement and interpretation of the song this week. I'm starting to feel a little sorry for Danny, though, only because he's a great singer who actually has some originality and understands who he is, but I'm afraid he might get lost in the shuffle with the laud and praise some other contestants are getting each week. I hope once there are less contestants (and when the first performance slot isn't the predetermined "spot to forget") Danny will continue to wow us.

Kris: Simon was a bit harsh and indulgent in his own critique, but Kris was definitely off his game tonight. He needs to find a way to bring it again next week. And how about his family doggin' on the taxi drivers of the world. Good thing this show isn't taped in NYC or he'd be hoofin' it all over town. "Sorry. Off duty."

Lil: The best part of the performance for me was finding out that "Lil" is her actual, given name. Very cool. When they announced she'd be singing a Tina Turner song I thought to myself, "Oh, OK. Another diva." I just don't think Lil knows how to make a song original. She's a great singer who does a nice impression of some other great singers, but week in and week out she makes the same plea and promise to America. I just need to see Lil the Artist, not Lil the singer.

Anoop: Simon's yo-yo analogy was a decent one. He really does change from week to week. I agree that this was a better week for him--perfect song and perfect interpretation. I could completely hear Anoop in this one this week. Anoop dog is in the house tonight! (As an aside, I loved how Simon told Anoop to not worry about--to borrow a Wally Cleaver-ism--giving the judges "the business.")

Scott: I've gotta give him props for stepping out from behind the piano, but I wasn't a huge fan of the performance. The guitar wasn't impressive enough to be worth the change. I like Scott, and I would love to keep hearing more from him. I think sticking to the piano is the best bet for him and gives him the greatest chance of continuing on for a few more weeks.

Allison: Where did this girl come from. And was she really singing a song from her birth year that I heard at my senior prom? Ouch! I'm getting old! I loved this song choice, too, because it was restrained and controlled, but yet showed the rocker side that we've come to expect and love. She keeps singing like this and she'll be sailing through to the finals. I love her mother's comments about talking too much. Classic!

Matt: I was a bit worried when Matt chose a song by The Greatest Singer in the Known Universe (per Randy), but he worked it out! This was the right style for him, especially when he infused his own jazzy, soulful side to the song. He needed this performance tonight. I think it may have been the hat.

Adam: This guy is in a league all his own. He is not my favorite singer as far as his natural genre, but I've got to admit he is the most original and talented of the group this year. He has a knack for taking songs and making us feel like we're hearing them for the first time. Too bad most of America missed his performance on their DVRs.

So, realizing that so many of the contestants are really good this year, here is MY BOTTOM THREE: Lil, Scott, Anoop (simply a prediction, not preference)
RELEASED OF THE PRESSURE TO BE ORIGINAL: Oh, please let it be Lil.

P.S. Did you catch each of the "Judge-isms" in the contestants' recaps?

Caw! Caw!

2009-04-02T15:23:00.000-05:00

I've got the Hallelujah Chorus ringing in my head. And it's so totally appropriate. It's about freaking time that Megan goes home. And tonight was so off-the-charts uncomfortable that I might've cried if she hadn't left.

What was with the weird dancing and freaky facial expressions and the squawking and the flying?? Is she cracking up?? I'm not sure what other explanation there could be at this point.

She looked almost glad to go. After her little episode of mouthing off to the judges, I was so turned off. After she got booted, when she said she had some things to say, I thought she might just say, "See ya, suckahs!" and invoke the federal broadcast 2-second delay safety mechanism with a hand gesture.

She's ready to go home to her baby. I'm wondering if she might give Alexis, who looked none too pleased to be in the audience, her spot on the tour.

Tonight was WILDLY uncomfortable. From Ryan's manhandling of Scott (again) to the HORRIBLE lip synching to the matching dog tags (what's that about?) to the mics picking up everything the contests were saying and doing to that Lady Gaga performance to the close up on Lady's zipper eye patch to Megan mouthing off to the judges to Megan making weird faces to Megan thinking she's a bird to Megan's swan song (Ha! I get it!).

There were some bright spots:

* Matt's save
* David Cook's performance and award
* The contestants' camaraderie
* Anoop showing some humility
* The dramatic intro to the show to recap yesterday's performances (MAJOR improvement to Ryan's voice overs, Idol Producers)

And I'm left with questions:

Allison should NOT be in the bottom 3. What is with America? Why has she been there twice? She needed to switch places with Lil. On the 2nd time hearing it back, Lil was very, very off. Painfully so.

What other desserts does the Idol chef make?

Was Scott really playing the piano or was that fake, too, like the singing?

What about the guy with the guitar?

Is Kara going to hate that her little "Boo" routine showed that her arms could use some toning? (I'm one to talk. We could all take lessons from Michelle Obama on the arms).

Could Kris's teeny bopper fans scream any louder?

Why don't we ever see these Ford commercials on TV?

Does Paula really think they all have the same potential as Adam?

How'd they get those bubbles in the piano?

Can she zip that patch shut if she doesn't want to look at something with that eye?

Was she dressed in a party ribbon or metal casings?

Who the heck is she?

(Loved the violin dude with the awesome dreadlocks, though).

Pick a song, any song

2009-03-31T23:30:00.001-05:00

Poindexter descends stairs. Judges climb over each other awkwardly to get to their seats. Idols make grand entrance and I say, "What the HECK is she wearing?!?!" well before the judges said it.

I guess the Idols weren't able to visit iTunes headquarters so they visited Ryan's radio studio instead and watched him play with the buttons. Good times.

I like Kara. And holy, Randy finally said what really needed to be said on this show: Just because you like a song doesn't mean you can sing it. I threw a victory punch in the air and yelled, "YES!" when he said that. Something not only coherent, but very, very necessary to say!

Ryan's intros: Stage. Stage. Stools. Stairs. Stairs. Mosh Pit. Stool. Stairs. Stage. Way to mix it up, Idol Producers.

Anoop Desai ("Caught Up" by Usher): Hmmmmmm, vocally, it was good, but the overall performance just okay for me. I need to see more . . . something in his performance. I like him and want to see him do well, but his cocky defensiveness is starting to grate on my nerves. Though I thought it was funny when Kara dissed the Frat Guys and then the camera showed the Frat Guys booing her. Hilarious. And I don't like it when singers pronounce "me" as "may." Tomato. Tomata. It's annoying.

Megan Joy ("Turn Your Lights Down Low" by Bob Marley): What happened to her last name? They dropped it. Corkrey no more. Megan Joy. But Joy is not what I feel when I listen to her. Nausea and discomfort are more along the lines of what I feel. When she sings. And when she overcompensates for her insecurities by lots of winking and head nodding and mouthing the words, "Vote for me!" after she kills (and not in the good say) her song. She isn't in key! And the necklaces and braids didn't help at all. Eric, my best friend in high school, is a huge Marley fan and he got me listening to it all the time. This was an awful thing to do to this song. And I love Paula but even if Megan had a stool, it wouldn't make a difference. It'd just be a really bad song on a "big chair." I'm sick of hearing her saying that she's going to do it next week. Amen, Simon. She's been saying that every week. Enough already.

Danny Gokey ("What Hurts the Most" by Rascall Flatts): Gokey done good. It was a very, very good performance. I love the tone of his voice. Knowing his back story made the song very emotional and believable and moving. He kind of looks like my cousin "Little Johnny" (no lie, that's what we call him even though he's like 30 now). I totally felt like the show started with his performance.

Allison Iraheta ("Don't Speak" by No Doubt): She plays guitar?! Awesome. She chose a good song, but she seemed nervous tonight to me. A little rushed at the beginning while she played with the guitar. Slightly off in parts (but only slightly). But dude, she's SIXTEEN. So if this is an "off night" for her . . . WOW. Her off night is light years ahead of Megan's best performances (assuming we believe she's had any). The judges could've eased up on her outfit, but it really was pretty hideous. I love how she takes it all in stride and laughs it off, though. Amazing talent on this girl. And for those counting at home, Paula has now predicted 3 people into the finale. What is with the female judges and their inability to count?

Scott MacIntyre ("Just The Way You Are" by Billy Joel): He did a fabulous job and it was a very wise choice to not include the band in his performance. I like what he did with the song. It was like Joel meets Manilow. This was Scott's best performance to date even if they did Rick Springfield his hair. And I thought what Paula said about being proud of him was really sweet.

Matt Giraud ("You Found Me" by The Fray): Oh Matt. I so badly want to see Matt do well. But this was not the right kind of song for him. He has so much soul and he really does need to stick to it. I have to say that the judges were right about that. Oh, he looked so nervous from having been in the bottom 3. The song didn't suit him and it sounded way too low for him and he seemed nervous. I know he'd like to be that kind of artist but it's uncomfortable on him. But when he does the soul/R&B stuff . . . wow! That being said, I loved when he went into his false (as usual) and just in general, it would be so very wrong for him to get booted before Megan. So wrong. And I love Kara for saying so.

Lil Rounds ("I Surrender" by Celine Dion): [ sarcasm ] Oh, I am so shocked that she sang a song by a diva like Celine Dion [ /sarcasm ]. You know, I like her hair in the interviews. And then she steps out with extensions or a wig or something and I have to wonder why she doesn't spend as much time choosing a song as she must spend sitting in a salon chair adding to her hair like that. Don't get me wrong. She did okay, but not great. It was very off in many parts. But I AM BORED. I have been bored by her for a long time. She seems to have no idea who she is as an artist. I feel much like Randy on this one--pleading with her to PLEASE do some Mary J. Blige or something . . . anything that might just suit her. The judges constantly say it to her and she smiles and nods and says, "All right. I can do that," and then subjects us to more of the same. Yawn. I'm bored with you now. But she does have way cute little kids. What's with Ryan teaching her child to be violent, though? I'm done with Lil. But not as done as I am with Megan. But it's close.

Adam Lambert ("Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry): OMG! OMG! This guys is freaking unbelievable!! I feel like screaming from the rooftops to those who haven't noticed . . . We haven't had an artist like this in well over a decade!!!!!! And it's about time! This guy . . . I mean, think like Freddie Mercury and Axl Rose and Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler and . . . OMG! OMG! He's so so so amazing! How has this guy not been discovered yet?!?!? What the . . . WOW! I LOVE this guy!! I could listen to him 9 times and not hear any others and be very, very happy. This guy is a star. An artist. Has soul. Has rock. Has funk. HOLY Moses. I can't get enough Adam Lambert. He's in a league entirely his own. I miss his rock hair, but other than that, oh baby, it was hot! When he goes into his higher register and "Adam Lamberts" that song . . . WOW! And hello, he sang "Play That Funky Music, White Boy" and that alone should get a standing "O." LOVE this guy. The passion that exudes from him when he performs is unlike anything I've seen in a very long time. And I love it! And he has such a subdued, kind, likeable personality in his interviews and when he gets his critique from the judges. I was chatting with my SIL Jessica today and she totally got what I was saying, so I'll try to express it here, too: It's not that he's good looking, but it's that he's sexy. In the way he performs, carries himself, etc. Adam Lambert is rocking this season of Idol and I dig it.

Kris Allen ("Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers): I love this song. And this arrangment was fabulous. Strings on the stage? With him and the keyboard? Brilliant. And what?! He plays piano, too?? Way to play that card several weeks in. Holy talented and smart! This boy so so SO has swagger. Absolutely no doubt about it. And he has such amazing control of his vocals. He's surprising in his abilities and I like him very much. And he's so cute. Adorable. The boys are SO carrying this whole thing.

From best to worst:

Adam
Kris
Scott
Danny
Allison
Anoop
Matt
Megan
Lil

And I'm okay with that order . . . for the most part. Matt needs to work his way up there and away from those 2 ladies at the bottom of the list.

Who'll be in the bottom 3: Anoop, Megan, Lil
Who'll leave: Lil or Megan . . . oh I don't care which

Top 9 Recap (I Surrender!)

2009-03-31T22:40:00.000-05:00

I was all geared up for birth year songs so the very "limited" theme this week threw me for a loop. These nebulous categories are always the worst--more potential train wrecks and plenty of "songs I love." Randy finally articulated what we here at home have been saying for years with this show: just because you like a song doesn't mean you can sing that song. Again, another day at the office for the idols. Kara's counting, Randy's watching paint dry and enjoying people's vocal "prowness," and Paula's talking about furniture. As far as the contestants go, we had a few stand-outs, some solids, a disappointment or two, and a "why, oh why am I subjected to this." You can all decide which performances fit into which categories, but as Simon would say, you can disagree with me but you would be wrong.

Anoop: A disappointment for me. I didn't know the song, but I knew Usher would be one of those "don't do it" kind of moments. Anoop picked a song he likes, but not one that performs well on Idol. And I'll agree with Stacy ahead of time (because I know she's going to say it)--he's getting a little arrogant in his defensiveness. He's been yanked around a lot through the weeks, but something not good has happened along the way. Maybe it's because the Indian kid is referring to himself as a brother and talking about his homies.

Megan Joy: She can't even pick a good one-name name. First she's Megan Corkrey, then Megan Joy Corkrey, and now just Megan Joy. A rose by any other name . . . I honestly don't get it. Even though she didn't pick the Marley song I feared she would ("I Shot the Sheriff") it was still the wrong song (obviously). First, it was out of tune from start to finish. Second, the lyrics actually say "I died," which is not a great choice given the karma of the lyrics. And third, she really isn't a very good singer in the end. Adequate at times, but nothing spectacular. I almost tire of even commenting on her performances, but apparently can't help myself. (And now Stacy is watching a second time to refresh her memory. How lucky am I?!)

Danny: This guy is the real deal. He's got a recognizable sound and great musical ability. One thing that is impressive to me is that despite the emotional heartbreak he has to still carry he has not once (that I can remember) used that to garner votes or sympathy. Really, we know about it because American Idol has used that footage during audition weeks ad nauseum. He's like a man on a mission.

Allison: So she plays guitar, too? Very nice. She has the entire rocker persona down. I'm a little frustrated the judges really made the wardrobe the focus tonight, although I agree it was not a good selection! Her performance was solid, but not great. She is proving she is a force and I hope she continues to get the credit she deserves. And Paula used the word "ax" tonight. Very cool.

Scott: That he would pick a Billy Joel song was not a difficult prediction. It was, in fact, a perfect selection, including going solo on the piano. He doesn't have the greatest voice, but it is very good. And, Scott knows exactly how to play to his strengths. Big props to him for stepping up his game and bringing it this week after a disappointing last week (how's that for three overdone Idol phrases?).

Matt: This was a bad week for Matt so I'm glad Kara tried to come to his rescue. No way he deserves to go home based on his performances as a whole, and not even based on tonight's. He's got to stop choosing songs he likes (a la Megan) and choose the songs that fit him. When he's an established artist he can start to branch out and experiment. For now he has to focus on his "natural" genre, which is toward the R&B side of things. An upside to his performance--I liked how he started in the crowd. Very interesting.

Lil: I'm so shocked Lil picked a diva song. And I'm also so shocked that it came off as less impressive than she thought. Have people learned nothing yet from this show? Not one winner of the show has been a classic diva. A few have had the big voice necessary to pull off songs by Celene Dion, but the winners have found ways to win without resorting to these predictable choices.

Adam: Funky white boy indeed! Ka-ching go the producers. Adam is going to do very well for himself. I feel like I say the same thing over and over again, but Adam is the most current and unique contestant this year, and he's unique in a good way, not in a nasally, what in the world is she doing with her arms, Megan Joy kind of way (sorry, I had to get one more shot in).

Kris: Now he plays the piano. A triple threat! His arrangement was great and I loved the whole performance. I may have even liked it better than Adam in a less obvious kind of way. As a musician Kris is definitely one of the most deserving of all of the contestants this year. I only hope his understated confidence and personality don't get lost in the shuffle.

BOTTOM THREE: Megan Joy, Lil, Matt
LEAVING IDOL TO TRY HER LUCK ON "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE": Megan Joy

Motown Week

2009-03-26T16:12:00.001-05:00

As much as I dislike Country week, I heart Motown Week. And if I had to say one thing about tonight's performance it would be this:

We rarely vote, but we couldn't help but vote over 50 times yesterday for Adam Lambert and that nothing-short-of-stunning performance.

All right, with that out of the way, here goes:

Paula's wearing a tutu. And giving Simon coloring books and crayons. I LOVE Paula. This show wouldn't be what it is without her.

I do have one question for the judges, though--why do they exit the stage in such a way that it creates an unorganized traffic jam at their table? Why don't Simon and Paula exit on the side on which they sit and Randy and Kara likewise? Seriously, a little attention to detail wouldn't hurt. Hire someone. Boost our economy. People need jobs, for crying out loud!!

Matt Giraud: Perfect song, great performance, LOVE this kid. It's about time he get more credit for his abilities. He's AWESOME.

Kris Allen: I have to disagree with Simon. This kid DOES have swagger, just not in an obnoxious way (*cough* Michael Sarver *cough*). In a likeable way. Love his voice, his guitar, his manner. He deserves to be around for a while. He did great.

Scott MacIntyre: I like that he did something more upbeat. If he gets too preachy-Archulettaesque on us, I might like him less. He did a good job. But what the heck is with the fashion people and the pink pants? That's just cruel. Pink pants notwithstanding, I like his personality and sense of humor.

Megan Joy Corkrey: Here's one from me, honey. OMG! Please put her and all of us out of her and our collective misery. That was HIDEOUS. So uncomfortable. She smiles like she's gritting her teeth, mirroring how all of us feel at home. We're gritting our teeth and squirming, too. Oh, she's not squirming? She's dancing, you say? That's right. Megan Wiggles. She was so terribly out of tune. It must stop. Oh please make it stop. Somewhere out there, Alexis Grace is asking, "What the??" The flu actually made her sounds better. That's not good.

Anoop Desai: Great vocals, but a bit boring for me for him. I miss Bobby Brown Anoop.

Michael Sarver: I'm so done with him. I don't think this guy ever deserved a top 12 spot, especially not over Ju'Not. And I didn't think he deserved top 10 either. He's seriously going to tour and Alexis Grace is not? So not right. He's out of his league and yesterday was not good. I don't enjoy watching him. He should've gone home long before now. Which means he'll probably stick around another week. UGH.

Lil Rounds: It was good, but she was shouting at me. I don't like being yelled at. This was her best performance so far, but I'm not sure that's saying much at this point. Oh, Lil, Lil, Lil. You make me miss Fantasia more.

Adam Lambert: 3 words. FREAKING BRILLIANT!

Danny Gokey: I love Danny, but um, hello? He didn't do what Smokey said to do. And NONE of the judges called him on it?! Dude, Smokey was right on. I guess the judges are too busy coloring to notice these things. It was really good and I enjoy his up-tempo stuff, but Smokey's suggestion was better.

Allison Iraheta: Holy Moses, this girl! 16? Wow. If I had to predict based on tonight, it'd be an Adam-Allison finale for sure. Rock on, rockers! She was awesome tonight. Awesome.

BOTTOM THREE: Michael Sarver, Megan Corkrey, and does it really matter?

GOING HOME: Megan Corkrey

Give Me Mo' Motown

2009-03-25T22:25:00.000-05:00

I was pretty excited when they announced Motown for this week, and it did not disappoint. I'm glad they brought in Smokey Robinson, too. He was great in Season 2 as a guest judge and he was great again this season. We had another "typical" week on American Idol: a few predictable song choices, a few strange ones, and one fantastic performance that was untouchable this week. I noticed that both Randy and Paula are rubbing off on Kara--she had excited Randy-esque sentence fragments followed by incoherent ramblings all wrapped up in one. Welcome to this season, Kara! I'm also wondering where she learned to count--"one of the best performances of the night" is 8 words, not 6, but who cares in the end. Paula's crayon and coloring book routine was inspired, but it did give Simon something else to distract him from judging this week. What's with Randy's Urkel outfit? Anyway . . .

Matt Giraud: I loved his piano/vocal hybrid tonight, especially since it was on one of my favorite Marvin Gaye songs. This was a week very well suited to his style and he, of course, did well tonight.

Kris Allen: He made a great choice this week and it was fairly obvious that James Taylor has influenced Kris. He definitely put some of his own flavor on this one, though. The song itself is pretty simple musically, but he did well enough to justify his continuing presence on this show.

Scott MacIntyre: I wasn't overly enthused about his song choice since it's not one of my favorite songs, Motown or not. With that said, Scott had a solid night again. He showed he can handle an up-tempo song and not be swallowed up on that stage. It wasn't the best performance of the night, but it was good enough for now.

Megan Joy Corkrey: If I knew how to text message I'd probably have all kinds of abbreviations to share. I'm pretty sure I can get an "OMG!" from someone out there, though. Megan is a niche contestant, and her niche is not the stage of American Idol. She was out of tune the entire time and other than her (somewhat) likable quirkiness I'm having a tough time seeing why she's even included in the competition at this point. She should have been a Top 36, one-time-is-enough performer.

Anoop Desai: I can see what Simon was saying about him sleeping up there. His vocals were great, though. He really has a great range and his falsetto is usually right on. Let's see what Anoop can bring next time around.

Michael Sarver: Right now he's got to be thinking something like, "I'm so glad Megan's around this week." That way at least he gets one more chance to "have so much fun" up there. And Ryan, how do you spin "you"re a sincere guy, but you can't win this competition" and turn it into constructive criticism for the coming week?

Lil Rounds: I don't like this song at all, but I am now hungry for a flame-broiled Double Whopper with Cheese (and an order of onion rings). I was having flashbacks to Kimberly Locke and her "Heatwave" days. In the end, though, this was a really good performance for Lil. She could have picked a better song, but she still did a lot to stay this week.

Adam Lambert: Anything more than "awesome" seems unnecessary. What a great interpretation of a fantastic song. This just shows that Adam is a true musician, because to take songs each week and create such original interpretations (or draw from similarly unique ones) takes a real talent, like the talent we saw David Cook bring last year. And how does this dude sing such perfect falsetto? It's unreal. Plus, he gave washboard guy's mother a reason to scream at the TV set this week--"That's my boy! The one doing laundry up there!" Plus, I'd like to play the guitar like the most famous anonymous guitarist on national TV.

Danny Gokey: I feel sorry for Danny since he had to follow Adam. It's almost unfair this week, because Danny did so well again. Again, not one of my favorite songs, but he did well and really got into it up there. I especially liked the "wheels on the bus" move he pulled with the backup singers.

Allison Iraheta: She's definitely got it going on. If she can keep these kinds of performances coming she'll be tough to beat down the stretch. I remember Jordin Sparks getting a bit strained toward the end of her season so I worry Allison could easily strain her voice as well, but for now she's a serious force to be reckoned with.

BOTTOM THREE THIS WEEK: Michael Sarver, Megan Joy Corkrey, ??? (Cop out, I know, but I have no handle on where the voting loyalty is yet)

NO MO' SONGS AFTER MOTOWN: Megan Joy Corkrey

Top 11 Recap (From the Doc)

2009-03-17T23:05:00.000-05:00

Let's just start by saying I'm not anti-country per se, just picky about country music. For example, I'm not a fan of Randy Travis, either as a musician or an Idol mentor. In past seasons the good mentors can take a performer who doesn't fit perfectly into his or her genre's little box and appreciate, as Paula would say, the authentic authenticity of the authentic you. In other words, whether the style is from the Middle East or Eastern Tennessee, nail polish or not, let's celebrate true artists. Heaven knows the pop world has adapted enough country songs to validate the musicality of the Grand Ole Opry. Randy Travis seemed to miss the boat on that whole crossover phenomenon that's expanded the career of many a country star. Rant. Off. (How's all of that for judging an artist's entire body of work based on a dozen or so sound bites during a hyped up Idol show?)

So I was pleasantly surprised (what's with all the Paula references this week?!) with the evening and saw fewer disappointments than I'm accustomed to on country weeks. Even Simon seemed to enjoy himself on more than one occasion, but not many more! What's with all the contestants talking to the judges so much this year. And "having fun" is a given for me. Singing well is the bigger task and the one that will get more of my votes. Randy Jackson has become really stale for me for a long time because he just seems to parrot Simon a lot, and he's so focused on getting his "dudes" and "dawgs" out there he doesn't say any thing intelligible, but tonight I liked him. He finally showed why they keep him around. He actually seems the most in tune with current music and how different artists can blend styles to suit their own strengths. Without saying much more about it, let's get to it.

Michael Sarver: And there it is. It's Josh Gracin all over again. Am I pop? Am I country? I'm "just having fun up here." Talk back. Don't listen. Criticize Simon. Wave to the crowd. Michael is a good singer, just in way over his head here. Next.

Allison Iraheta: I didn't really like the song this week. It was a bit too straight-up country for my liking, especially since she didn't really rock it out. Her performance was solid enough to stick around, but not my favorite. When they rolled the phone numbers at the end, Allison was one of the contestants that made me say, "Oh yeah. She sang tonight."

Kris Allen: I like this guy. He is very understated fashion-wise, which is a plus. He seems very comfortable up on stage and his voice is great. I think Simon was spot-on with his praise tonight, too. Kris is shaping up to be one of the four or five legitimate contenders.

Lil Rounds: She's so Season 1 or 2 for me. She has that power voice and can sing, but the music industry just isn't celebrating that kind of voice any more. Whitney, Mariah, Christina. They've had their places, but the artists of today are more artistic and less "wow!" And she did herself no favors by trying to prove she can sing other things. She can't, so stick to what you know and do it well.

Adam Lambert: If I thought Randy T. knew many songs outside of the Grand Ole Opry I'd figure he'd be humming "Dude Looks Like a Lady" to himself when he met Adam because he sure seemed to have something he wasn't saying about his experience with Adam. I am most disappointed in the judges after Adam's performance. If we want to discuss indulgence, we need to take a closer look at all of Simon's wedding singer analogies. Adam's performance was the #1 most original song this week. Randy J. hit it on the head for once--Adam sounded like an alternative rock band interpreting a country hit. I thought Kara's inability to say anything worthwhile on this one was shocking, and Simon hates country music so much I thought he would have had a bit more positive to say about this one. And anyone that can substitute the sitar for the slide guitar on country week deserves mad props.

Scott McIntyre: I can see what Paula was trying to get at here, but I think she's way off. I've long said Scott reminds me of Billy Joel in that they are both serviceable, but not fantastic singers who have a gift for using the piano to enhance their performances. Take away the piano and Billy Joel is just some guy in a bar looking for spare change. "Sing us a song, you're the man" just doesn't work. The audience sure seems connected to him each week so something's working. David Archuleta sure seemed to sing different versions of the same song each week last year and made it to the finals, so Scott may do just fine.

Alexis Grace: It was a good replication of the original for me, too. It was solid, but nothing great. I don't really have much more to say on this one.

Danny Gokey: Randy J. had the best comments on this one, too. Danny needs to support his lower register more to stay in tune so we can fully appreciate how great he is when he goes up to his higher register. Danny seemed to connect to this song and did really well with it. He would have made a greater splash if he'd parachuted from the top of the set, though.

Anoop Desai: What a great song choice and arrangement. You could really hear his own voice coming through. I like what Simon said about his attitude. There's no sense in talking back and complaining about songs and judges' opinions. Just take the criticism, use what you can, and come back stronger. I'm glad to see him redeem himself.

Megan Joy Corkrey: I'm still not convinced I like her much. She seems nice enough, and I'm sure she's a lovely person, but I can't get on board with her singing style. From her strange pronunciation (I've lived in Utah and Megan's singing accent isn't from there) to her awkward torso twist I just don't get it. She did pick the right style in which to sing this incredibly overdone song, though. I don't know.

Matt Giraud: If I had to vote for only one performance tonight it would be Matt's. I loved it. He's a great pianist who knows exactly how to use it in his presentation. His work on the ivories wasn't overdone, but was perfectly appropriate. He sounded way more confident this week and I'm glad to hear Simon give him his due. I did find it interesting that Paula didn't tell him to lose the piano at some point. When you give a great performance all that peripheral stuff doesn't matter.

PREDICTIONS FOR THE BOTTOM 3: Michael, Megan, Lil
BUYING A TICKET FOR THE IDOL TOUR: Michael
WILL THE JUDGES USE THEIR SAVE? A simple "no."

THIS WEEK'S SIGN THE APOCALYPSE IS UPON US: Ryan's IRS-inspired tie clip.

Idol Does Country

2009-03-17T23:04:00.001-05:00

There were two kinds of performances tonight--"Good, but not good enough" and "Amazing." There were no in betweens.

Ryan started out the night looking like a total poindexter sporting that ugly dotted tie with the gold bar clip. I would've liked to see Ryan step out in jeans and a green T-shirt that said "I'm magically delicious."

But at least he looked presentable. Unlike the Brit with the ridiculously stretched out shirt (listen to me, critiquing fashion--my SILs Emily and Jessica will be so proud). I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with Simon wearing the same 2 alternating outfits every night of the year. That's fine. I myself could wear jeans, a white t-shirt, and black cardigan every day quite happily. But when you have millions of dollars, dude, at least buy new shirts. You know, so they look like they fit. Or something.

Truth is we wouldn't even notice if we didn't have to watch the 4 of them make their self-congratulatory walk every week. Seriously, this is going to be a weekly thing now? Ugh.

Randy Travis. He's all right, but reminds me of someone too uptight to hear anything outside the box. Is he on some sort of drug? I didn't know whether to be creeped out by his mannerisms or just put out, but he strikes me as an ultra conservative who doesn't know how to consider anything beyond what he deems as "normal." And dude is missing out. He's a one-trick pony and his pony does nothing but twang. Man, the sitar ROCKED. But more on that later.

And just so you know, I'm in the mood for credit. Let it be known that I made three predictions before they happened and I was totally right about all 3. This morning, I totally called what Danny would sing. When Anoop sang, I called that Simon would love it and say he now deserves the top 12. And when Adam was singing, I TOTALLY called what Randy said. Yep, right there. On my back. That's right. Pat. pat. pat.

Michael - Josh Gracin. That's who. Remember this past week when I said he reminded me of someone but I didn't know who and whoever it is is someone I don't like. Yeah, well, we figured out it's Josh Gracin and I was starting to get past it. Until tonight. I've been saying, "He looks like he has a chip on his shoulder, but everyone says he's so nice." I kept trying to see what everyone else saw. But tonight I saw the cocky arrogance that made me dislike Gracin. I hope it's the end of the road for Michael. He did well, but this group is amazing and out of these 11, if 1 shouldn't be on tour, it's Michael. Plus I hate it when people yell, "Whooo!" when they sing. And it's worse when it comes from a guy. And even worse when it's from a roughneck. In case you didn't know what he did for a living.

Allison - She managed to get some rock in that twang. It was really good, but (insert British accent here) "I'm not jumping out of my seat." Still, the girl has mad skills. Skillz? Skills. Skills? Skillz. Skills. Whatever. She's good.

Kris - Tender puppy indeed. Easy on the eyes. Easy on the ears. This boy was smart to come out like he did tonight sans guitar and sans big, flowery arrangement. It was gorgeous and I want to see more of him. He did a very smart thing tonight.

Little - Lil. Little. Lil. Little. Little. Little. Lil. Little. Little. Little. Little. Clearly, this was more memorable for me than the song. Lil has an amazing and powerful voice, but she's not unique. She's too polished. Fantasia would've never pulled this stuff. Even her show-stopping rendition of Summertime was raw. There's nothing raw about Little. Lil. Little. Little. Little. Little. She's a VERY good singer, but it's become passé. She's a few seasons too late, I'm afraid. She's being outperformed by a variety of unique originality. She's coming up on done with her "Lil Rounds."

Adam - I'm sure that his song tonight will get mixed reviews but I am not ashamed that I. LOVED. IT. It was FABULOUS. When I was in high school, alternative rock was my thing and that is EXACTLY what he did tonight on country night!!. I totally, totally called it before Randy even said it. Man, anyone, ANYONE who can pull off that kind of song on that kind of stage with that kind of chutzpah and come off sounding like a mix of The Cure, Mick Jagger, and Kiss to an arrangement that has both electric guitars and sitar music while the audience sits transfixed and mesmerized by his talent, falsetto, and absolute and utter audacity deserves to sail all the way to the top. I LOVE this guy. Love him. He does what only guys like Constantine, Daughtry, and David Cook have been able to do--keep us waiting in weekly anticipation of what in the world he's going to do this time and wow us with his artistry with a big, old "in your face" performance. And to do what he did on country night? He has my vote. Again and again and again. LOVE this guy. LOVED this performance. Nine Inch Nails does country? For once, I am TOTALLY on the Randy train. He is SPOT on. LOVED it.

Scott - You know, he's not perfect in his pitch all the time, but he is fantastic. He has a gorgeous, rich tone to his voice and I want more. He did an amazing job tonight and I think he is just fine behind the piano. I know that he might get boring fast, but hey, so did Archuletta. At least this guy is interesting. I hope he doesn't keep singing Archuletta ballads every single week, but he already seems far more uptempo than that. I like him. He deserves to stick around a bit longer. I think the judges don't want to come across like they're going easy on him because of his visual impairment and so they're sticking their feet in their mouth and, consequently, all landing on their behinds. Good grief, for like 8 weeks we hear, "Oh Scott, we can't wait til you're behind the piano. That's when your magic happens." And then we get 2 weeks of magic and they're all, "Oh Scott, don't use the piano." What? We JUST got the piano. Let him be. And bring on the Elton John weeks.

Alexis - It was okay. I don't know what else to say. It didn't suit her. When they said she kind of looks like Dolly Parton, I was all, "What?! No she doesn't!" And then Mark says, "Yeah, she kind of does." And I'm all, "Ohhh, I guess so." And then sheepishly, "That's not what I thought they meant." And Mark says, "Dolly Parton does have other features." I thought they were mocking Alexis. Hey shut up. We A cups have to stick together.

Danny - I so totally called this song for him tonight. The first part was rough but then it was awesome. I agree with Randy (weird, I know)--he needs to learn to control those lower, more tender notes. But as a power singer, this boy's got soul and this boy can sing the holy crap out of anything. He done good.

Anoop - That. Was. Awesome. I loved it. I like this guy. He's back. He did a smart thing. We got a humbled Anoop tonight and he sang his way right back into our hearts and minds. I like this guy very much and was happy to hear him get well-deserved praise. Anoop Dawg is in the house!

Megan - Wait, more credit for me. I called that she was sick! Pat, pat, pat. Thank you. Thank you. She looked GORGEOUS tonight. But I'm still uncomfortable when she sings. Or dances. Or both. Or something. Her intonation. Or nasal voice. Or something. It's very strange. Sometimes I dig it and sometimes I don't. Mostly I don't. But I do. But tonight, I didn't. Or something.

Matt - WOW! Wow wow wow wow WOW! I LOVE MATT! I have loved him ever since I heard him audition. When he sang "Georgia" in Hollywood, I do believe I applauded from my living room. That's right, I did. And tonight? I applauded again! There's something very sexy about his laid back, kind personality and demeanor combined with that raw, passionate, soulful singing. Add to that that the guy plays piano in a way that only people BORN with those skills can do? And you've got STAR power. This guy is a star. I have never agreed so much with Randy in one night EVER. From Timberlake to Buble? Amen, dawg. Amen. This guy finally got the credit he deserves.

MAN this year is tough. They're all good! My favorites tonight -- Kris, Adam, Scott, Danny, Anoop, and Matt (pretty much all the guys but Michael and no girls).

But Adam and Matt were tops for me by far. Followed by Anoop and Kris. Followed by Danny and Scott. And when I say "followed," I mean like milk follows cookies. As in, "follows" but really they go together. That's my Paula way of saying that I'm trying to rank order them, but they're almost ALL on par just the same for me.

My least favorites - Michael and the girls

Going home and not going on tour - Michael (though I think 'Little' is in trouble, too)

And we've come full circle: There were two kinds of performances tonight--"Good, but not good enough" and "Amazing." There were no in betweens.

Top 13 Recap (from the Doc)

2009-03-11T12:34:00.001-05:00

What a start to the "real" season. I am glad to finally be done with all of that Top 36 stuff. They really watered down the talent pool leading up to the final 13 so it's nice to see that there are still enough truly talented people to make it a great show. I was a bit nervous since I thought Michael Jackson week was a set-up. In the past, shows like Stevie Wonder week were awful since the judges invariably told the contestants there is no way to do any justice to the Greatest Singer in the Known Universe. Michael Jackson is so unique and is such an icon I figured it could be a rough week. It was not!

I was less than amused by all of the gimmicky nonsense at the beginning of the show. I know, let's show off the set and lights. Hey, check out the judges walking on stage. Wow! Ryan sure can descend that staircase. But because all of that took so long, the last contestants barely got any comments whatsoever. It's a Top 12/13 tradition!

Lil Rounds: So, she can sing. Although, it's not a good sign when by the end of the show I've already forgotten what she sang. I think she'll get old pretty fast since we've seen this act before in years past.

Scott: What a difference a piano makes! He seemed so much more comfortable behind the ivories than standing alone on stage. He reminds me of Billy Joel (and not just because he plays the piano). His voice isn't great, but when you put the piano and the emotion and all of that together you get a really good performance.

Danny: He's been great from the beginning. It's really nice to see him enjoying himself up there and doing something more up tempo. He has the ability to do quite well if he can stay humble and sincere.

Michael: This guy can actually sing, but I think he's going to get lost in the shuffle pretty quickly. In the early seasons of American Idol he would have been one of the top few, but this year the talent pool is so deep I don't know that he'll be around very long.

Jasmine: I'm done now. She seems nice, and she's definitely talented (thank goodness she showed this week that she deserved to at least compete at this stage), but she does not ooze enthusiasm and energy like so many of the other contestants. She needs some more seasoning.

Kris Allen: Guitar song or not, that was a really good performance. I was a bit surprised he made it out of the first week since he was a relative unknown at the time and the "unknowns" don't always do well initially. He's got some serious potential, though.

Allison: You can definitely see what kind of music she should be performing. I thought Kara's advice to keep doing rock so Allison can stand out was good. With a group this strong, finding a niche early and exploiting that could be a huge plus.

Anoop: This performance was a huge disappointment for me. He's so much better than what he showed tonight. I think he has a huge following already so he should be safe, which would be good for me since I want to hear more from him, but you never can tell with these things.

Jorge: Nice guy. Nice voice. Not a very strong showing tonight. At least he admitted this music is not his thing, though. I'd like for him to get another chance to show us what he can do.

Megan: Every year, one contestant causes me to respond to his or her performance viscerally. Megan is the one this year. She seems nice and fun. She has a pretty good voice. Her performances give me the willies. Not Sanjaya kind of willies, but something seems very awkward about her, like she has no clue what she's doing (and maybe she doesn't). And her song this week? Why on earth would you pick a 14-year-old Michael Jackson cover of a 50s tune? I thought it was a joke at first, like no one told her she picked the wrong song and they let her go out there anyway.

Adam: I'm with Paula--how has no one found this guy yet? He has a polarizing style in my opinion because I can see how someone may not like his style at all, but he is very talented. Tonight he was kind of reminding me of Michael Hutchence (INXS) for some reason. I thought it was really good.

Matt: I was really glad Matt did "Human Nature" because I thought it was a great piano song. Stacy's been saying all along that he reminded her of Justin Timberlake so it was kind of cool to hear Randy say the same thing. Of course, I'm never surprised to hear Randy repeat the opinion of someone who spoke before him so maybe he knew someone else already thought Matt was a Timberlake-ish performer. Anyway, it would be cool to see Matt around for a while.

Alexis: One thing is for sure--you do NOT expect to hear THAT come out of her. I can see what Simon was saying about it not coming off as well as one might initially think. Let's cut her a little slack this first week, though. It's a big stage and a lot of energy comes out up there.

I'd make predictions on which two are leaving, but it sounds as though there's yet another change to the rules and presentation of American Idol. My biggest worry is that the judges will have some way to manipulate the results. I can appreciate that they have strong opinions with at least a little basis in the industry (although sometimes you have to wonder what in the world they are thinking), but taking the vote away from America would be a HUGE mistake. Let's hope this little surprise is a silly one. Also, this group is so close together talent wise, and the crowd seems to love everyone (it seemed like everyone got a Standing O), so at this point it's anyone's contest.

THIS WEEK'S SIGN THE APOCALYPSE IS UPON US: Amanda Overmyer's debut album is now available.

Top 13 Perform

2009-03-10T22:07:00.000-05:00

Holy Moly!! This is the BEST first night we've ever seen of ANY season to date!

One of the most overused lines on this show is "This is the best Top 12 we've ever had" but man this may well be! Well, 13.

Seriously, what a night! WOW! I had SO MUCH FUN watching that!!

Who's in the bottom 3? Jasmine, Megan, and Michael (Anoop, sadly, would be deserving but since he's a favorite, I don't think he'll see the bottom 3 for a while).

Going home? Who the heck knows if the judges are going to mess with it. This show is 'jumping the shark' WAY too many times this season already. Now this? Honestly. If they make it not worth voting, they'll ruin the integrity of the show. Grrrrrrrrr.

My favorites: I TRULY liked most everyone! That's unusal for me. There's no one I don't like, but there are a few I think weren't as good as others, but seriously, WOW, what a show. My top favorites are Adam, Danny, Adam, Scott, Adam, Matt, Adam, Kris, Adam . . . I pretty much can't get enough of Adam. I love Anoop even though this wasn't his night. But I DIG Adam.

Other observations:

The camera people never quite get it together the first night.

This show wouldn't be what it is without Paula--I love Paula.

It drives me NUTS that they do so much stupid banter in the beginning and then rush through their comments for the final few singers. So stupid. It's Season 8. They should have this down by now. Forget jumping the shark and do your normal job already.

Quick Recap:

1. Lil Rounds - Wow! I think we might tire of her without more originality, but she can sing.

2. Scott - What a voice! I love to hear him with the piano--he's so much more comfortable. I think he'll go far. I hope so.

3. Danny - I love Danny! I love his raspy voice, his presence, his singing--he's fabulous! Love, love Danny.

4. Michael - Nice guy, good voice, I think he's out of his league and knows it, but I like him. He reminds me of someone and I don't know who and whoever it is is someone I don't like, but I'm trying to get past that bias, because it's not even clear what that bias is. He did a good job but is overshadowed by this group.

5. Jasmine - I'm not a big fan. They're constantly telling good singers that they don't have enough personality (Simon: "charismar") to make it through, so it puzzles me when they put through an inconsistent, mediocre singer/performer who doesn't have a lot of personality. Huh?

6. Kris Allen - He's SO CUTE. And I'm loving the crusties his wife sends the camera every time they say he's cute or shouldn't mention his wife. I REALLY like him and I dig when he plays guitar.

7. Allison - She has GOT to be the first authentic, REAL rocker chick we've seen on Idol. Okay, maybe Carly. But this girl is the real deal when it comes to rocking. And she's 16! Heart and now Michael Jackson? Wowzers.

8. Anoop Dawg - I like Anoop and was so excited to hear that he'd sing "Beat It" but it was just aw-right, unfortunately. I think he has a following and will stick around, thankfully.

9. Jorge - It was okay. I like Jorge. How can you not? But it was good, not great.

10. Megan - I laughed through the whole thing. Something about her (and thinking about how uncomfortable Mark gets when she sings) makes me not be able to help it. She did a good job, though. She's a feel-good artist. Weird song choice, but she's likeable.

11. Adam - HOLY SMOKES. I can NOT get enough of Adam!! I have ALWAYS liked him and I like him even more now. I love how he carries himself. I love his confidence. I love his look. I love his personality. I love his chutzpah, stage presence, and voice. I love how he hits "ridiculous" notes and his screechy way. He's like a male Fantasia and I can get down with that. LOVE him.

12. Matt - I really like Matt. I love how he plays piano. I love anyone who can play like that. WOW! He did a good job. He really hit some notes, fell off a bit, but it was still good. I like him and want to see more of him.

13. Alexis - HOLY. That little petite thing can seriously SING. Dirty Diana? Are you FREAKING kidding me? She looks like she's 11 but sings like she's a cross of Tina Turner/Fantasia/I don't even know who but I am speechless at the power and control that girl has. She NAILED that song and was stunningly amazing on it. An Adam-Alexis finale would be incredible.

Season 7 Finale!

2008-05-21T21:00:00.005-05:00

The winner got 56% of an all-time record-smashing vote. I'm kinda glad it wasn't super close. This is gonna be good!

Man, the David duet is killer good! It would be so cool if they did an album together!

Jason Castro did a fine job with 'Hallelujah'.

Donna Summers was fun. Syesha held her own in their mini-duet.

I'm glad to see they've gotten Michael Johns to do something with his hair. Much better.

Jimmy Kimmel's mini-roast of the cast is wonderful, as always.

Graham Nash with Brooke White was delicious.

Whoops...got distracted there by a phone call and dinner. Mmmm...prime new york strip steak. The phone call was from my neighbor, asking me to turn it down a bit... LOL.

Gladys Knight and her crew were the pips...lol.

Carrie Underwood was great!

David Archuleta's imitation of Tom Cruise in the Guitar Hero ad was impressive!

George Michael's performance was great, and so was the song, which I'd never heard before. It was the perfect performance to put just prior to announcing the winner.

Simon apologizes for being so hard on Cooke last night, and clarifies that, on reviewing last night's show at home, it wasn't as clear cut as he called it last night.

It seems that America agrees. David Cooke is the man. He's overwhelmed. I'm quite happy with that result.

David Cooke sings the songwriting contest winner, which is quite good, actually. I love how he hugs Archuleta and draws him into the song and into the audience with him.

Wow. What a great season.

See you next year...

D-Day on American Idol - Ruben Studdard Performs!

2008-05-20T20:38:00.004-05:00

The final chapter of The Tale of Two Davids will be written tonight. Who will win the hearts and minds of the ultimate judges of this heated contest? Who will thrill us with their best effort to date? Who will Randy, Paula, and Simon endorse? Who will be the next...American Idol!?!

Will it be the highly-polished, adorable youngster with the excellent voice and consistently powerful, if slightly predictable, performances?

Or will it be the less-polished but highly-talented young man who continues to blow our minds with original and stunning performances? Will his greater life experience outweigh Archuleta's disciplined but narrower focus on developing his talent?

I considered speculating on which David would become a Goliath, in the sense of becoming the giant in the competition, but then realized that Goliath lost the competition with David, so that won't work (just forget I brought it up).

---

Ah. The Davids are presented as boxers in the ultimate competition.

From the applause, it sounds like Archuleta has the majority in the audience response elicited by Ryan.

---

Clive Davis' picks:

Cooke: 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' - Great song, and Cooke runs with it, extending notes in all the right place, making it his own. He also gets into the audience, making them his own, as well. The last note was a daring glissando which worked well. Randy liked "D.C." Paula said she'd found what she was looking for. Simon called it phenomenal.

Archuleta: 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me' - A tough song with big shoes to fill. He starts sitting, so you know he's gonna try and bring it. He's very good, but I don't personally think he quite manages to fill those shoes. Randy calls it flawless. Paula got chills. Simon says it's the best he's done so far, and gives him round one. I could be off, I suppose.

Songwriting Competition - Contestant's Choice:

Cooke: - 'Dream Big' - An upbeat anthem which Cooke sings and performs like he wrote it. He nails an extended end note. Randy likes the performance over the song. Paula appreciated it. Simon calls it "lightweight." I agree with Randy, and I don't think it hurt him any.

Archuleta: - A ballad whose name I didn't catch- 'No One Can Take It From Me'? - No surprise that he chooses a ballad - a safe choice, or a wise one, at this point? The song is better than Cooke's choice, for me, and David handles it very nicely. Randy reiterates that he could sing the phone book. Paula loved it. Simon agrees it was the better song, though with egotistical lyrics, and gives Archuleta round two, as well. I'm a little surprised at that move, and Archuleta has a look of utter disbelief that he actually voiced such a potentially influential compliment. Given what Simon said on Ellen Degeneres, it makes me wonder, as well. Is he throwing the overall fight, or just giving his opinion of tonight's competition?

Personal Picks:

Cooke: 'It's A World I Know'? - The guitar work is excellent. He holds back his power and focuses on tenderness, getting tearful at the end. Randy and Paula loved it. Simon notes it was the wrong song at this point in the competition, however beautiful the performance.

Archuleta: 'Imagine' - A repeat of his most memorable performance. This typifies his approach of taking fewer risks and focusing on his most polished skills. Naturally, he is brilliant. Randy names him the winner. Paula calls it stunning. Again, the audience seems weighted for him. Simon gives him a win with a knockout.

On the recaps, I noticed a glaringly flat note I missed first time around on Cooke's first song. I noticed a lesser glitch in Archuleta's last song.

Winner?: From the judges' feedback and the audience's cheering, it seems clear they both favor Archuleta, and I can't fault their logic or enthusiasm, but for me, these are two performers who are equal but different in their strengths. If I had to vote, I might favor Archuleta for his consummate discipline and consistent skills. Cooke could use some of that. On the other hand, Cooke has demonstrated a continual ability to astonish me with the depth and breadth of his talent, awareness, and heart. I won't be surprised or upset if either one wins, but all the signs point to Archuleta.

See you at the finale!

Just for John

2008-05-19T21:16:00.001-05:00

2:56 is about where you see Simon's look of "What the . . . ?"

Finale Announced

2008-05-15T07:07:00.001-05:00

This is going to be the best finale since Clay and Ruben! Humdinger indeed. I'm so excited. It's about time we have a really competitive finale!!

And did you catch the shot of Simon's face during Fantasia's performance? HILARIOUS!

Top 3 Minus 1 - Fantasia Performs!

2008-05-14T22:44:00.005-05:00

Grrr... I spent most of the show watching with peripheral vision while I researched problems with a forum and options for its future.

Fantasia was hard to miss, though. Wow!

It was telling to see David A., Syesha, and David C. all overcome with tears at the overwhelming support they received on their homecoming trips.

Okay, here it is...

David A. and David C. are the finalists, as seemed fairly obvious.

I still applaud Syesha for having matured enough to take third place, and I think she'll do very well. I think she grew up tremendously in the last 4 weeks.

See you next week...

The Three Stooges--Guess Who I'm Talking About

2008-05-14T07:33:00.001-05:00

I've been quite excited to see how the three finalists would do with three selections and I thought the show was as good as any final 3 they've had in the past.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: No Clive Davis selection? Hallelujah. He has a knack for picking songs that aren't great showcases for the contestants even if they are good studio songs. I was pleasantly surprised that all three judges made great choices for the contestants. I was not as happy with the producers. It's fairly obvious who each of the judges are pulling for after watching last night's show. Has Randy gotten dumber this season. I feel like his whole approach has gotten so much worse. He used to be a bit more honest with his criticism, but now he almost seems random in whether he offers positive feedback or negative, regardless of the quality of the performance. Did Ryan actually insinuate that Syesha's Dad is gay? Sometimes the filler is just plain awful.

David Archuleta: I thought Paula's choice was a great one for him and he did a predictably fantastic job on it. His own choice for himself was stupid. At this point there is no danger of him proving he is actually young at heart. He has an older, inspirational style. It's OK. It's work this far so why change now? The producers' choice was only a little better, although it does suit his voice perfectly. Overall, a B+ night for Little David.

Syesha Mercado: Randy make an appropriate choice for her, but he also set her up for comparison. "A few note changes" don't make this an original performance. Being unique requires more than this. With that said, she performed very well and it is the kind of song she can pull off. Simon's comments were more than fair on this one, though. Her second choice ("Fever") was as stupid as David A.'s. Number one, her timing was off on the initial phrases. Number two, where were the classic brass kicks that everyone loves about this song? It was weird without them. Number three, the prop was distracting, but it proved a very important point: Syesha is an actress first, singer second. That is not a bad thing. Broadway musicals are full of people like this. She is very well suited to musical theater, but not tops when looking for a recording artist. The producers must want her out because they sabotaged her with that choice. She sounded awkward on it even though she did the best she could with it. Bad luck for Syesha equals the end of the road.

David Cook: Simon's choice was fantastic for him. It forced David to be original and do something with a song he normally wouldn't touch. Simon was actually clapping partway through the performance, although I'm not sure if he was applauding David or himself. David's choice was a bit strange and I think Paula was right in her assessment regarding a beginning, middle, and end. The producers must want David Cook to win because their choice, while somewhat of a setup since so many contestants have tried this song, was perfect for him. I thought the arrangement and presentation were top notch, and even if he didn't sound perfect on it, the whole package was great. If he's not the front runner after tonight it's not because he doesn't deserve it.

RANKING ACCORDING TO ME:

David Cook
David Archuleta
Syesha Mercado

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR: Syesha

Top 3 - Judges', Personal, and Producers' Choices

2008-05-13T20:57:00.007-05:00

Judges picks:

David A. - 'And So It Goes' - Paula's choice. I like how he starts out a cappella. He does a very fine job of it, with an appropriate amount of vocal riffs. Randy loved it. Paula loved it. Simon calls it a bit predictable, and good but not outstanding.

Syesha - 'If I Ain't Got You' - Randy's choice. A good showcase for her voice, which she trills wonderfully at the end. Randy loved it. Paula loved it. Simon objects to the choice, but liked it well enough.

David C. - 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' - Simon thinks this song is about him. It is a tough song, but he owns it with his own twists and some wonderful extended notes. Big time chills! He really showcases the unique power of his voice. Outstanding!!! Randy jokes? about the song choice being predictable and non-rock. Paula loved it. Simon loved it, of course.

Personal picks:

David A. - 'With You' - A nice change of pace from the ballads, and he does it decently, but it wasn't great for me. Randy also didn't believe it. Paula liked it. Simon didn't buy it either, saying it wasn't him.

Syesha - 'Fever' - An old, but timeless, Peggy Lee song. She's gonna work the drama with her chair prop. She wears it well, and I very much liked the ending. I liked it better than David A.'s choice, actually. The judges all didn't love it. Simon calls it "cabaret." There's some truth to that, in terms of missing an opportunity to sing something more contemporary and Idol-like.

David C. - 'Switchfoot' - Not A song I know, or particularly like, but he certainly does well by it. Randy likes the song choice. Paula didn't like that the minute and a half slot cut the song short. Simon gave it middle of the road with the other two personal choices.

Producer's picks:

David A. - 'Longer' - I love the song, and agree it's a good choice. He does very well with it. Some chills here. He really made it his own. The judges generally liked it, but Simon calls it "gooey," though says he did well enough to go to the finals.

Syesha - I missed the name - It's kind of a good song for her style, but not so much for an Idol competition, though it wasn't her choice, after all. I thought she did very well by it, but the judges have similar concerns about the song choice.

David C. - 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing' - A very good choice of song, which he makes his own. More chills. I think I'm looking at the big winner here. Paula's on her feet. Randy loved the song but called it predictable. Simon agrees that he wins the night.

Tops: David C., for me. David A. did extremely well, though, and his fans may put him at the top.

Props: David A. and Syesha both did very well.

Leaving: Syesha, for me. In the quick review, I notice her voice just isn't as perfectly on pitch as the Davids' are.

Top 4 Minus 1 - Maroon 5 and Bo Bice Perform!

2008-05-07T22:12:00.006-05:00

David A. is first on the spot, and is safe, of course.

David C. is next. No mystery here. He's safe.

Jason and Syesha take the stage.

Now let's see just how strong Jason's fanbase really is.

---

The phone calls are entertaining, as usual. I love that the girl from Pittsburgh asked out David C.

And Simon as the next James Bond. LOL!

---

Bo Bice is sounding good!

---

Okay, Jason and Syesha. Somebody stole my joke about Jason shooting the tambourine man. Jason's fans are not enough, which restores my faith in the voting system somewhat. Syesha makes it to the top three, and I think she's earned it.

See you next week!

That's the Elvis song you picked?

2008-05-07T15:01:00.000-05:00

Rock-and-Roll seemed like a huge category, but I see they are picking from the "influential" list.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: I'm glad the judges will be giving comments after both songs, not just the second. That was a nightmare. I'm always a little surprised to see who the judges are trying to get into the final few weeks. For someone who usually thinks with dollar signs, Simon makes some dubious choices at times. More on that later. I'm glad Ryan didn't actually shake his hips after Syesha's performance. That would have been too much from which to recover. No mentor--so, a 30-minute results show tonight? Was Carly trying to reverse the effects of criticism toward Jason by giving him the standing O (and I don't mean Oprah on her feet), or was she applauding Simon's decision to trash Jason, thereby ensuring his place in the Top 3?

David Cook: This should have been his night, and it was to an extent, but he did not blow me away either time. Part of the problem is that we're so accustomed to his consistently solid performances that it's tough to wow us week in and week out. I'd agree his first offering was a good rendition, but nothing original. I really like the whole feel of the second performance and don't see any way he doesn't make it to the finale. Stranger things have happened, but there really is no way he's pulling a Daughtry in Week 4.

Syesha Mercado: The selections were quite predictable, which is what we've come to expect, but she did a nice job on both. The whole way through "Proud Mary" I thought it was a bit manic, and you could see her trying to channel Tina Turner. It was a gutsy choice that worked. I won't even try to compete with what Boquinha's already said, but yeah, her interview bit the big one. Even if you feel yourself in that song, do not ever, ever try to draw comparison between a talent competition and the Civil Rights Movement. And yes, that's with a capital C.R.M. Among the worst aspects of the second song experience: 1. The aforementioned parallels between a fluffy, call-in talent show and the beginning of a multiple decades-long struggle for equality; 2. The fact that she did not offer a single comment after her performance that was not already mentioned in the interview (as if it was scripted); 3. Paula's standing ovation--it was a good performance but I've seen a lot that were better; 4. Simon's insistence on getting Syesha to the next round, not even thinking that she is a mediocre recording talent at best, whatever her fantastic potential may be in musical theater. Is that enough? It's all I've got for now. Oh, did I mention that I actually think she deserves to get to the next round on the performances alone? It pains me to say so, but I can call a spade a spade.

Jason Castro: What the hell happened to him? In the group numbers he seems like he feels out of place, so maybe he's done now. Maybe the last weeks were tough enough that he's done. I don't know. All I know is he lost his edge completely. Bob Marley is not A.I. material, especially not a song about shooting law enforcement officers. Doesn't work on this stage. If he hadn't forgotten the lyrics the second song would have been a top 3 performance tonight, but alas, he blew it. He'll do well outside of the competition since he is one of the two unique contestants left. I'm fairly certain he will outsell anything Syesha records.

David Archuleta: On vocal talent alone he is the best in the group, but his performances are boring already. I'm so shocked he picked the songs he did. And why the seagulls and crickets a la "Mormon Miracle" in Salt Lake City? He'll probably get to the finale, but I'm not seeing any growth in the competition and I'm a bit tired of the Melinda Doolittle-ish humble act. He may actually be that uncomfortable with the praise, but at some point if he is going to be a huge star, he's got to accept it and show a bit more enthusiasm. Justice puts him in the finale, but he stands a good chance of coming in second.

MY TOPS: David Cook.
A SAD FAREWELL TO: Jason Castro

Can't wait to see how Clive Davis and Paula Abdul sabotage the future of some contestant with their crappy song choices next week.

Are you freaking kidding me??

2008-05-06T21:52:00.002-05:00

This isn't a review of what they sang. This is simply a review. Or rather a missive to each of them.

David Cook,

You are a solid rocker, a fantastic performer, and whatever you do, you'll do fine because you, sir, are phenomenal. And your hair looks better than when you started, so that's a big bonus. I think you're great.

*****

Jason Castro,

My dear boy, I've loved your voice from the start and even your look has grown on me as simultaneously beautiful and handsome (and that is saying a lot since at first you reminded me of a girl friend of mine from years ago). Your "Hallelujah" and your "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" have been show stoppers in their own poignant way. Sigh, Jason, sadly I think your time is up, but your album is still the first I'd buy. Your style, your lovable and charming quirkiness, your pure and tender voice. You are the heart of this competition and I love that. So, yes, pack your bags (those stupid judges could've grilled you a little less before your second song, eh?), but be ready to sell albums, because there are many of us who are so buying them.

*****

David Archuleta,

You are vocally wonderful and your tone is beautiful. However, if I'm being honest, I'm a bit bored and have been for some time. I seriously sometimes consider fast forwarding on our TiVo. And if I hadn't seen old YouTube videos of you as a Star Search child, I would've rooted harder for you, but alas, your story is not one of those endearing ones of a humble, sweet young diabetic kid who is deaf in one ear and doesn't even know he's good yet gets discovered by his boss when that boss overhears him singing while he stocks shelves at the local drug store. Yours is a story of a rather intense father who has primed you as a singer and groomed you for television cameras. It seems all so contrived. Too bad really. You otherwise seem totally adorable and lovable. I worry for you and what you've already been through--you have an almost-comatose look as if you're already on some sort of antidepressant drug. I hope you're not. So, that being said, The Powers That Be will have you in the finale because they know the teeny-boppers adore you. And hey, you can sing to boot. So, see you in two weeks. As for your seagull T-shirt, I'll let my husband comment on that one.

*****

Syesha Mercado,

Are you freaking kidding me?! You know, I don't really like you. I haven't liked you for a long time. And I'm astounded that you are the last girl standing. That honor should've gone quite deservedly to Carly. Or Danny Noriega (I miss him). And even though I find you pretentious, full of yourself, closed and defensive to criticism, and a big time diva, I've been able to say when you've done well, which you have the past couple of weeks. And even tonight, it pained me to admit that I thought your first performance was pretty darn good. I was actually starting to give you props.

But then. But then! I'm almost speechless. And again I ask, are you freaking kidding me?? Did you really just compare the pivotal and sad time in our country's history of the civil right's movement to your own experience of not getting eliminated on a reality TV talent show? Did I seriously hear that correctly? I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt that no you did not just do that. But then. But then! You did it again! You said it again!! And this time with tears! You, on live television, sobbed overcome not by the emotion of the great Sam Cook or his posthumous and moving protest song which most regard as his greatest composition. No, you cried because you almost got kicked off American Idol! You didn't cry because of the injustices of your own race and the changes that have come much too slowly (and still so very wrongly delayed) through the years. You cried because you think *you've* been changing. Heaven help us all.

Any iota of respect I've had flew out the window with tonight's interviews. When you were crying, I thought you'd been moved by the meaning of the song. But you were moved by your own pretty reflection in the mirror! And I am . . . speechless. I cannot believe that The Powers That Be have helped orchestrate the fiasco that is possibly you in the top 3. Do you deserve it vocally based on tonight? Sure, because Jason sucked big time and even flubbed the lyrics like a cherry on top. But if, by some miracle, you make it into the finale itself, or worse yet, actually win this thing, I'll know that you were inspired. By you. How the voters haven't LaToya Londoned your behind off the show, I do not know.

*****

Tops for me tonight--personal preference: David Cook
Bottom: Jason (love him, but I think he'd like to be done now)
A bit bored by: David Archuleta
Are you freaking kidding me??: Syesha

Top 4 - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

2008-05-06T21:03:00.005-05:00

David C. - 'Hungry Like A Wolf' - A Steppenwolf joint that suits his voice, but it lacks the fireworks one might expect at this stage. Decent, not great. Randy agrees. Paula's appetite is piqued. Simon calls it "good enough to get you through."

Syesha - 'Proud Mary' - A good song for her dramatic flair. Her performance is a little better than her singing, but that ain't bad, either. Randy and Paula love it. Simon thought it a bad impersonation of Tina Turner. There's some truth to that.

Jason - 'I Shot The Sheriff' - The song matches his dreads. He gives it quite a twist in his stylings, but I don't think they worked, rhythmically, as well as the original arrangement. Randy didn't "get it." Paula gives props for his performing to the audience well. Simon calls his arrangement "atrocious." This makes about four mediocre performances in a row, by my count, and his fan base may not be enough to save him, at this point.

David A. - 'Stand By Me' - A good song choice, if somewhat safe. He does well at putting his personal twist on it. Good, as always, and better than David C.'s first effort tonight. The judges like it unanimously. Simon thought he struggled toward the end, but still calls it "best of the night" so far, which it was.

---

David C. - 'Baba O'Reilly' - A Who song which fits his range, and he does well by it, though it could have been much better if he had more time. Still, it is now the best song of the night. Randy loved it. Paula wants more. Simon welcomes him back.

Syesha - 'A Change Is Going To Come' - Her beautiful, buxom dress is only a mild distraction. She does very well with the song. Randy didn't love it. Paula makes her cry with recognition of her own changes over the weeks, which is exactly why she chose that song. Simon seconds Paula's opinion. Call it over dramatic if you will, but I think she was being totally genuine.

Jason - 'Tambourine Man' - Forgetting the lyrics puts the lid on his coffin. Aside from that, his performance was mediocre, at best. There's really nothing the judges can say, so Randy puts it to him to judge himself. Paula clarifies that she likes him for having gotten this far. Simon suggests he pack. The feeling I got from this kid is someone who has always been relying on his cuteness-loving fanbase, and has somehow thought that to be enough to get by without really working on things. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he'd been out partying and doing drugs for the last several weeks instead of rehearsing. True or not, that's the kind of vibe I get from him.

David A. - 'Love Me Tender' - An Elvis song that he makes his own as a ballad. I like this best of all tonight. The strength and innocence of his voice is just amazing. The judges loved it.

Top: David A.

Middle: David C. and Syesha - your choice for second place tonight.

Leaving: Jason, who shot both the sheriff and the tambourine man.

Top 5 Minus 1 - Neil Diamond Performs!

2008-04-30T23:14:00.003-05:00

Well, I spent most of the show in the kitchen, making my first meal of the day because my heat pump was blowing 80 degree air most of the day, while it crept up close to 100 outside, and it was just too hot to eat. It's been doing this intermittently every morning after not running at night when it's cool enough to have the windows open, and it's been doing this for the past few years. I managed to find a guy to troubleshoot it, and he said I need a new compressor, which is costly but much less than a new unit. And after he left, it kicked in blowing cold air. When it gets hot enough that it cycles off and on frequently all night long, it would probably run fine for the whole summer, as it has for the past two years, but it's just no fun knowing it's eventually going to fail again and wake me up blowing warm air, so I guess it's time. Thank goodness for credit. Okay, enough personal venting...

---

The phone call from the woman who was Simon's first kiss at the age of nine was very cool. What surprised me is that he had the nerve to ask her how she looked these days, clearly indicating a firm interest in seeing her and maybe hooking up with her in a serious way, right on public television in front of the whole world and his current girlfriend of many years.

---

Okay, so bottom line is that Brooke goes home. She knew, and took it more emotionally than most, making her finale one of the more difficult to endure. Surely Syesha or Jason is next, and my take on the last few shows says it should be Jason, but next week might change that, or his clear fan base will continue to bail him out.

'nuf 4 now...

See you next week!

Am I a Believer?

2008-04-30T08:02:00.002-05:00

I'm not a Neil Diamond fan, but I thought this could be a good week given how many songs he's recorded.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: I had no idea Neil Diamond wrote so many songs. It's a nice week to have two performances each. Why, oh why do they tinker like this. I didn't like how the judges didn't comment after each performance, and then they really blew it by having the judges give a quick recap in the middle of the show. Paula rambles so much when she's giving comments anyway that making her recall all 5 of the performances was just a setup. She's going to get a lot of flak for this one, but doesn't deserve harsh treatment. I felt rushed while I was watching. I'm not sure that's the effect the producers were going for.

Jason Castro: This was another mediocre night for him, although I did enjoy his first performance. It was a bit copycat, but I felt it was nicely done. He doesn't look comfortable without his guitar, though. He ends up sauntering along the stage looking a bit awkward.

David Cook: I thought he did really well tonight. His first song was good, not great, and his second was definitely a good one. Like Simon said, it sounded like it was recorded this year. He just keeps bringing it.

Brooke White: I hated the first song. I'm sure my children will love it since she sang a "Shrek song." Karaoke night with the ladies was an accurate description. Her second one was great, though. I think she does sound much better behind the piano. I'm not sure how long she can last, though. She also seems set on arguing with Simon in her saccharine kind of way. Too annoying at this point.

David Archuleta: I'm so shocked he picked arguably the two most well-known Neil Diamond songs. He did a nice job as always imitating the original. He adds a few embellishments, but the arrangements are predictable. With that said, he did quite well, demonstrating he is a great singer. I recognize his talent but have been quite bored with him for a while.

Syesha Mercado: The first one was bland and boring, but the second song was much better. Randy tried to hide the fact that he called her a broadway singer, but it's true. It was a good performance from a good actress. I don't think she can win the whole thing, but she could outlast the other female vocalist.

Tops for me: David Cook
Bottom couple: Brooke White, and based on last night, Jason Castro
Good-bye to: Brooke White

Top 5 - Neil Diamond Mentors!

2008-04-29T21:00:00.004-05:00

"A very tight show to cram into an hour." Does that suggest two songs per contestant?

Yes! And no judging until the after the second song. Very good.

Jason - 'Forever in Blue Jeans' - Starts too weak in the lower register, but even the upper register has him sounding pretty weak. I don't think he does any kind of justice to the song, but boy, does he have fans!

David C. - 'I'm Alive' - Not a song I know, but he certainly makes it come alive. Very good.

Brooke - 'I'm A Believer' - Good song choice. She comes off as a bit overpowered by the song, but gives it a good effort and kicks it up at the end.

David A. - 'Sweet Caroline' - A pitchy start, but he finds his groove and does a fine job and adds some personal touches.

Syesha - 'Hello Again' - One of my favorite songs. At first I didn't think she really had the song, but she did very well by it, and gave me chills. I can't argue with that.

The rushed judging afterwards has the interesting side effect of projecting Paula back to the future...LOL. The shorter versions from the judges were actually a welcome change, and, as usual, Randy comes closest to my thoughts.

Jason - 'September Morn' - A perfect song for his voice and skillz. Beautifully done. I don't think it has quite the fireworks that Simon's looking for, though. Somehow he's lacking energy tonight. He almost seems like he's on drugs. That's how disconnected he seems to me.

David C. - 'All I Really Need Is You' - I don't know the song, but he truly owns it. If I didn't know better, I'd think I was listening to his finished recording of his own song. Excellent. Simon calls it "brilliant." I'm beginning to think more like Paula, who says she feels like she's looking at the next American Idol. David A. is quite good, but just doesn't have the depth, breadth and originality of this guy. David A. is solid and reliable, but just too predictable at this point. David C. is full of pleasant surprises every week. I've officially changed my loyalty.

Brooke - 'I Am, I Said' - A very big song, and writing the lyrics on her hand doesn't bode well, but I like it once the band joins in with her piano. That was more solid than most of her recent performances. Randy agrees, noting the vocal difficulty that she handled in stride. Even Simon gives it props.

David A. - 'America' - A very big song. The beginning is a bit weak, but again he finds his groove and lays it out. He proves he's big enough for the song, alright. You can't help but love him. All three judges loved it.

Syesha - 'Thank The Lord For The Nighttime' - A show tune type of song, which she handles very nicely.

Tops and Props: Still David C. and David A. at the top, and it's still very close, and could go either way at the end, but I gotta say I'm now an equally big fan of David. C. And yes, Syesha gets my props again.

Bottoms: Jason and Brooke, in that order, for me, but anything can happen with the fans.

Leaving: Jason or Brooke.

Top 6 minus 1 - Leona Lewis Performs!

2008-04-23T22:11:00.005-05:00

I'm glad Andrew had a chance to say that Brooke was flawless in rehearsal. Sadly, he also confirmed Jason's song choice as quite questionable (<-- q alliteration, or qualliteration).

The Davids are first on the spot. No mystery here.

Neil Diamond next week! I love that guy!

There's Leona Lewis! That bulge in Simon's pants is his wallet getting bigger. She certainly does have it all, though - what a performance!

Syesha and Brooke are next. Brooke is safe, and appropriately shocked! Syesha is in the bottom two. I guess there are other who feel as Bo does.

Jason and Carly are last up. Jason is rightfully nervous, but he is safe, leaving Carly in the bottom two. Judging by the audience's screams, Jason will have to do much worse before he's voted off.

Carly and Syesha both give great reduxes of their songs from last night. I'm glad to see that they both look happy, as well.

Carly is leaving. Deep breath, Bo. I can easily her succeeding on Broadway, or in some other venue.

See you next week...

Sir Andrew Week

2008-04-23T13:49:00.003-05:00

I've been looking so forward to this week and I can't believe it's over already. You can choose how much of that to believe.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Andrew Lloyd Webber was refreshingly normal for being so famous and all. I thought he was really good with the contestants and had a lot of constructive advice for each of them. Simon usually hates Broadway weeks so either he's grown accustomed to them or resigned. Either way, he was remarkably useful this week. Maybe it's because his countryman was the mentor. I think he made one excellent point (one I was thinking beforehand): the challenge this week is to make each performance contemporary and relevant, not just a good replica. For a unique performance in a Broadway week see Nikko Smith doing this one. I wish we'd had a Broadway theme rather than just Andrew Lloyd Webber. Like Mariah and Stevie Wonder type of weeks it's a setup for disaster for most of them. What is wrong with Ryan this season? He's so dorky. In the past he was quirkily cool, but now he's just weird. Was it strange for anyone else to see Ricky Minor conducting an orchestra rather than grooving with the bass guitar? He's almost one of the stars this season.

Syesha Mercado: I have to say she did very, very well, except for that sitting on the piano bit. Hated that. She obviously has talent besides all that attitude. Musical theater is her niche so it's no surprise this "working actress" did so well this week. Having said that, she didn't put any contemporary or "pop" feel into her arrangement at all. I would have liked to have seen someone make that comment. Oh well.

Jason Castro: Terrible song choice (I've actually hated this song ever since I was forced to play it as part of a 6th grade jazz band). Adequate performance. He'll be grateful he has a strong following because this week was just awkward and mediocre. I liked the video intro with the jumping back and forth between Lord Webber and Jason. Nice edit job.

Brooke White: Ouch! I think she misunderstood when she restarted her song weeks ago. That worked out then (sort of) but it wasn't supposed to happen again. She has come off as very nervous and rattled over the past few weeks. The performance was decent but lacked anything original. Another Broadway-ish performance. And not in the good way.

David Archuleta: This was the first unique performance of the night. I was pleasantly surprised. I called the song he'd sing before they announced it, but I didn't think he'd be original at all. Even with a flubbed lyric, that apparently escaped the judges' notice, it was great. Kudos to The Kid.

Carly Smithson: How long was that shirt ready? I'm glad she got to use it. She did great. I'm glad Sir Andrew switched her pick because this song was much better for her. It stood out from the other Karaoke-ish performances and should help her keep rising.

David Cook: First off, good, solid vocal. I am actually a bit shocked at how good his voice is and how much he can do. With that said, I was completely disappointed that he didn't do anything original with his choice. Even if he rips off another unique arrangement from someone else, he usually picks things that stand out and "define" him. Others did worse enough to get booted, but I'm expecting a bit more from him next week.

TOPS FOR ME: David Archuleta.
BOTTOM TWO: Syesha Mercado, Brooke White
TAKING HER MEMORIES WITH HER: Brooke White

Top 6 - Andrew Lloyd Webber Mentors!

2008-04-22T21:00:00.004-05:00

Broadway music is an odd choice, and should make for some interesting performances.

Syesha - 'One Rock and Roll Too Many' - Her vamped up version is very nicely done. The judges all agreed that this is her element and it allowed her to display a lot of personality. Definitely one of, if not her best. Perhaps what Bo dislikes as her "acting" in some previous songs is precisely her strength with this type of music?

Jason - 'Memory' - A big song. I don't think he lets himself go with it, as Andrew had suggested. He did okay, but it felt a bit like riding on a bike with the tires low on air. Randy agrees it was too big of a song and calls it a trainwreck. Paula is supportive. Simon didn't like it, either. This may be the end for him, though on looks alone, he may yet have enough adoring fans.

Brooke - 'You Must Love Me' - A false start, but she handles it. She delivers a heartfelt rendition which is very believable for me. Randy thought her voice wasn't up to it. Simon says it was iffy, and she won't like it when she sees it back. It may well hurt her, but I didn't not like it.

David A. - 'Think Of Me' - Another fine performance of a difficult choice. Randy loved it. Paula calls it "perfect." Simon calls it "pleasant," but a weak, forgettable performance.

Carly - 'Superstar' - A better choice for her lungs, per Andrew, but not necessarily a good choice for this stage of the competition. She handles it quite well and the audience seems to like it. Randy liked it overall. Paula liked it. Simon calls it one of his favorites of the night, if "shouty" at times.

David C. - 'The Power Of The Music Of The Night' - Incredibly powerful performance. The judges all loved it, though Simon prefers his rougher side.

Tops and Props: David C., followed by David A. and Carly, in no particular order, and props to Syesha.

Bottoms: Brooke and Jason.

Leaving: I think Jason has a stronger following than Brooke, at this point, so I'll guess Brooke.

Randy Jackson On Ellen Degeneres!

2008-04-22T17:23:00.003-05:00

And he predicted it would be a David vs David rather than a David vs Goliath contest at the finish! He also seconded Ellen's love of David C.'s originality and creativity. Then they praised the other contestants and their unique skillz.

Kristy Lee Cook Performs on Ellen!

2008-04-21T17:52:00.003-05:00

Wow! Kristy Lee Cook just gave a flawless performance of a song called 'Love'Em Anyway' on the Ellen Degeneres Show. I've never heard the song before, but her voice was crystalline, flawless, and powerful. For me, it was her best performance ever. Maybe being away from the pressure of AI has allowed her to spread her wings with more confidence.

Top 7 Minus 1 - Mariah Carey and Elliot Yamin Perform!

2008-04-16T22:00:00.004-05:00

I liked the opening song. They all did great!

Jason goes to the (my) right.

David C. goes to the left, making me suspect this is the top 3, leaving Jason in the bottom, though that seems unlikely.

Carly joins Jason on the right, but not before asserting that Simon has been rough on her this season, and making the right side more likely to be the bottom.

Kristy goes to the left with David C.

They're doing a pretty good job of keeping us guessing.

Elliot Yamin did great! Sorry to hear about his mom.

Syesha joins Jason and Carly, making it a bit more likely that's the losing side, but still unlikely. Naturally they're saving David A. for last.

Brooke joins Kristy and David C.

I'm beginning to wonder if they've come up with a new way to screw with us, since both sides seem like a possible mix of tops and bottoms.

Call-in questions were good, as always.

Mariah Carey was not really impressive. I thought the song choice could have been better... ; )
Oh, she kicked it up a notch at the end. That's much better.

David A. now takes the stage. He's safe, of course.

Ah. I thought so. Now they swap David C. with Syesha and play the old game of making David A. choose the winners. He won't, so Ryan guides the winners to him. So he, Jason, Carly, and David C. are safe.

That leaves Syesha, Kristy and Brooke. Though I wish it was Syesha, it's probably Brooke.

Syesha is safe. Take a deep breath, Bo.

Wow. Kristy is leaving. A bit unexpected, but inevitable, really. She sings off very nicely. She's come a long way this season, and I'll miss her a bit.

British people don't like the Irish, do they?

2008-04-16T09:27:00.006-05:00

Seriously, I don't know how much more I can take. Carly gets slammed week after week after really good performances. And Syesha gets praised week after week even after pretty sucky performances. Carly hits every note spot on and they say, "Not good enough." Syesha hits some horribly off notes and they say, "A little pitchy, but you BROUGHT it tonight girl!" To which she grins broadly and smugly replies in her whiny "I'm so pretty" voice, "Thank you, Raaaaaaaaandy!" Blech. I feel like throwing up every time I see her.

I'm more ticked at the inconsistency of slamming Carly for good performances while praising Syesha for sub-par performances. All. The. Time. I mean, c'mon, Syesha is the consummate sounds-like-every-other-singer Diva. There is nothing unique about her, she keeps singing Whitney, Celine, and Fantasia (Grrrrrrrr!) and yet she consistently gets WAY more than an "ai-aight!" It's always high praise. Even from Simon! Are they insane?! Do they want Syesha there more than Carly?? That kind of stupidity is what got Michael Johns kicked off while the likes of, oh, Syesha stay on. How in the world is that happening?! So I guess I'm miffed at 2 things--Syesha still being there and Michael Johns not being there. I mean, who would you rather look at, er, listen to?

So, Mariah Carey. Hmmm, I haven't been a big fan of hers. Ever. She's nice, I guess. I guess I feel apathetic. And I long for Elton John weeks.

David Archuleta (“When You Believe”)
Is he seriously wearing leather pants?? He was good, but I'm getting a little bored. He still hasn't done a fast song except for the one where he botched the lyrics, anyone notice that? He's cute and I don't dislike him, but I'm a little bored. And when I see his CD on the shelf next to, oh, Castro's? Or David Cook's? Guess which ones we're buying and which ones we're not. The teeny bopper girls will keep voting him through and he is very good, no question, but he's not my favorite.

Carly Smithson (“Without You”)
What is Randy smoking?! Someone pass some of Paula's drug to him and then give an occasional puff to Simon, because Randy is both tone deaf and stupid this season. He criticizes her and you just know that he's going to be all smiles and praise for his girl, Syesha. Blech. He sickens me. Look don't get me wrong, Carly is great, but she's not my favorite either. But she IS better than Syesha. Much better. And a billion times more likable. And Simon, we get it. You're British. She's Irish. So you simply can't bring yourself to like her. Or be nice to her. Classy.

Syesha Mercado (“Vanishing”)
Mark predicted she'd sing "Hero" and though she didn't, I hope he's right about her prophetic lyrics (though I thought that Carly's were a bit foreboding and a propos, too). I can give credit where due. She's pretty good and she has a nice voice, but it's copycat and pitchy and they seem to overlook that in her, but find things to pick on when it comes to Carly. I don't understand it. Syesha isn't even likable! And did you catch the stupid "Ohhhhh, Lo!" Ramiellism? Blech. She's the only one who "gets" her, remember? "Hi Girl!" Blech blech blech. Randy adores her and I don't get it. Maybe Ramielle does. There is simply nothing there when it comes to her--no connection, no passion, it reeks of bad acting. Yuck.

Brooke White (“Hero”)
Ah, there it is. I thought David A. or Syesha would sing it, but okay, Brooke did. Not surprising. Too bad they didn't all sing it--would've been more interesting to compare them anyway. I didn't like the piano thing. She was racing and her tempo was all over the place and she was so nervous she was visibly shaking. I'm VERY surprised that Simon didn't say, "That was like some ghastly high school talent show, wasn't it. And the girl is in her pretty dress and her parents are beaming. And it's all a bit hokey and predictable." I like her okay, but it wasn't a good week for her and I'm bored by her, too. Then again, I have to remember it IS Mariah Carey week and that's not a good thing for most of them. I do think it's funny that she's so weird on stage (putting on her shoe, can't find her seat, etc.), but the pouty Utah Mormon face is bugging me. A lot. Maybe those girls who miss their nanny will get her back this week, but I'm hoping Syesha gets that job.

Kristy Lee Cook (“Forever”)
She's gotten better over time (I'm surprised she's still around--I thought she'd get booted in the first few weeks) and she'll do well in country music (like Gracin and Bucky and Phil Stacey and all those others who sort of switched genres in the middle and "Hey, look at that! She's a country star!"), but I'm not a huge fan or anything. Though kudos to her for not buckling under pressure.

David Cook (“Always Be My Baby”)
I wasn't sure at first if I'd like it or not. But wow. It was actually really good! And a standing O from Randy. Wow! And it wasn't for Syesha. I'm shocked and awed. I agree about the movie soundtrack comments. It was a really good performance. And it was obviously moving to him to do so well with his sick brother (who did not look well at all) in the audience. I like David Cook and want to see him do well.

Jason Castro (“I Don’t Wanna Cry”)
Ah now, here's my favorite! And by favorite I mean so-buying-his-album. Love his style. He has a distinct style all his own and I love what he does every week. I hope he sticks around longer than Syesha and Kristy. I think he will. I'm with Magistra--A Cook (David, not Kristy Lee)/Castro finale would be FABULOUS. We haven't had that good (exciting) a finale since Season 2, IMO. Love this guy!

Tops for me for them: David Cook and Jason Castro (I'm still singing "Over the Rainbow" as I walk around). Love him.
Bottom 3: The girls with a girl going home and we can only hope it's Syesha

Pop and Country and Rock! Oh My!

2008-04-16T08:18:00.000-05:00

Mariah Carey night. Hmmm. I wasn't sure what contestants would do with this one since now they get to be directly compared to a diva, singing that diva's songs. It all seems so unfair. Plus, so many of her songs are quite alike so on the surface it seems it would be quite difficult to be unique.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: It took only 90 seconds to get to the "Randy, do you know this girl" part of the show. You know he loves the attention, though. Mariah seems like a decent person. The mentors lately have been very pleasant with the contestants from what it seems. I called it before Simon said it--the guys had it easier last night since it's harder to draw a direct comparison. So what would have Michael Johns done with this week anyway? Nice to hear from Carly that the rest of the contestants are "boring." It bodes well for the rest of the season. we're back to filling with fluff since we now have few enough contestants to leave a lot of dead space to fill. Sort of like when there are 10 contestants and they do a 2-hour show. We're just waiting for when they sing 2 a piece.

David Archuleta: Nice job, kid. It was a good, solid way to start, further legitimizing his presence here in the Top 7.

Carly Smithson: What does this girl need to do to get some praise? She did a lot better than the judges give her credit for. We get it. They are looking for a little more "wow," but this performance was actually really good. I'm scared for what will happen.

Syesha Mercado: She was out of tune frequently. That's just the way it was. Why the judges don't hear more than "a couple of pitch problems" is beyond me. She didn't stink the place up, but she is in no way deserving of the kind of praise she gets. Nothing personal against Syesha, but her praise and Carly's criticism should have been flip-flopped last night. She also sang the song with the most ominous lyrics tonight.

Brooke White: For being a genre of songs she really had no business performing she did well. It was not her best night and all of us here at home could hear her rushing and saw the nerves. I'm glad she didn't get knocked for not using the band after the judges suggested they like that type of performance from her.

Kristy Lee Cook: Not bad. She seems a lot more confident each week and should have a nice country career after the show. Overall it was an "in the middle" type of performance.

David Cook: Awesome! That takes some serious chutzpah to take one of the most obviously pop Mariah Carey songs and change the vibe. It had sort of a Goo Goo Dolls kind of feel and Paula was right on when she put it on a future movie soundtrack. Nice to see him back this week after a rough past week. He is the most original with the brightest future ahead of him. He should have Daughtry-esque success after the show.

Jason Castro: I liked the group he had on the stage with him. I don't think it was the best vocal he's had over the past 3 or 4 weeks, but it was definitely a strong, strong performance. This guy is surprising me week after week.

MY TOP THREE: David Cook and the other two guys
MY BOTTOM THREE: Brooke White, Syesha Mercado, Kristy Lee Cook
VANISHING: Syesha Mercado

Top 7 - Mentored by Mariah Carey!

2008-04-15T20:16:00.006-05:00

David A. - 'When You Believe' - Very nicely done. He captured the audience and the judges liked it unanimously. Simon says he "set the benchmark for the night."

Carly - 'Without You' - One of my favorite songs. She starts well, but going to the lower register is a bit awkward for her. Then she powers into high gear. Will Simon think she sounded "angry?" I thought it was good, but not great throughout. Randy nails her on the lower register. Paula is supportive. Simon didn't think it made the grade.

Syesha - 'You're Vanishing' - A little pitchy in the softer spots, but overall quite good. I didn't love how she tracked the camera at the end. Randy notices the pitch, but is supportive. Paula is supportive. Simon didn't like the choice of an unfamiliar song, but grants her technical excellence, as before.

Brooke - 'Hero' - Another favorite - The first note is shaky, but she eases into it and carries it well enough with a simple solo piano accompaniment, though it is somewhat weak. A closeup of her face seems to show her shaking with nerves, and she seems to be thinking, "How did I do?" right at the end. Randy picks up on the loss of confidence at the end and the inconsistent performance. Paula supports her authenticity. Simon says the weak bridge was her downfall.

Kristy - 'Forever' - Gave Mariah goosebumps. She starts with pitch and timing problems, but opens it up well, and achieves her goal of connecting with it emotionally. Props, but not great. Randy echoes my concerns, but gives her props, as well. Paula is much more supportive. Simon didn't get chills (he gets chills?) and agrees that it was not good enough.

David C. - I don't know the song, but his performance is impressive. He definitely seemed to give it some personal touches that made it his own. Randy says it was recordable. Paula agrees. Simon plays games with the audience's heads and says it was "like coming out of karaoke hell," and gave it high praise for risk-taking and originality.

Jason - 'Only Emptiness' - A bit weak in the softer parts, which is most of the song, and noticeably pitchy in spots. I didn't love it at all. Randy didn't like it. Paula is supportive. Simon surprisingly thought it was good. Again, I'm outvoted about Jason. Perhaps if I adopt Simon's perspective as a money-hungry producer, I'll be able to see more clearly... ; )

Tops and Props: The Davids, your choice.

Bottoms: Despite my crush, I have to add Brooke in with Syesha. Her tentativeness is beginning to bother me.

Leaving: Syesha, I hope, but she seems to have quite a following, and might beat out Brooke.

Simon's All-Time Favorite Contest Winner

2008-04-11T17:45:00.005-05:00

If you haven't already experienced her, check out Leona Lewis, winner of Simon's British X Factor singing competition:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=leona+lewis

Ellen Degeneres had her on today, singing 'Bleeding Love'.

Top 8 Minus 1 - Jordin Sparks Performs!

2008-04-10T21:02:00.003-05:00

Brooke is safe. Surprise.

David C. is safe. There goes my bottom two, so tonight will really be a surprise (unless they dump Syesha).

David A. is safe - no surprise.

---

I loved Jordin Sparks' duet with Chris Brown, 'No Air'.

---

Jason is safe.

Kristy is safe. Now I'm worried for Carly.

So the bottom three are Carly, Michael, and Syesha.

Personal preferences aside, I think Michael is the least likely to get the boot, but I would rather it was Carly. If Carly and Syesha are the bottom two, I can only hope it's Syesha that is leaving.

Wow! It seems the audience is as surprised as I am, but Michael is the one going home.

Maybe the song choice, 'Dream On' was prophetic. Or maybe America just wishes he'd wash his hair? I dunno...

His departure performance just doesn't seem to warrant the bottom spot. I still think it was a good choice.

Anyway, see you next week.

Idol Gives Back!

2008-04-09T21:00:00.005-05:00

Too many big names, great performances, and touching moments to comment on, so I'm just going to kick back and enjoy the show.

I don't think there will be any eliminations tonight. Does that mean two will be departing next week?

Wow! Annie Lennox is forcing me to negate my decision. Her segment and performance were truly powerful, standing out above the rest of the show so far.

And Jimmy Kimmel's roast of Simon Cowell is just hilarious!

And the song Carrie Underwood sang had wonderful lyrics!

Gloria Estafen was outstanding, as always.

---

Sorry, I got lost in donation land. Did you know you can buy sheets of photo stamps with Kelly Clarkson photos on them, and all proceeds still go to the Idol Gives Back Foundation? $20 for a sheet of 20 stamps. They're also limited edition, and so collectible:
http://photo.stamps.com/Store/brand/americanidol/

Have a good night!

Inspire Me

2008-04-09T07:35:00.001-05:00

All week I was wondering what the theme might be and I totally forgot Idol Gives Back was inspirational songs week last year. Appropriate.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Still not loving that set. This is their 5th week on The Big Stage II and the contestants still don't know how to come out in a coordinated fashion. Randy was on one tonight, but he gets like that occasionally toward the middle of the show. Paula had nothing but good to say tonight, eh? I saw very little crowd touching tonight during the performances. I guess Chikezie and Ramiele leaving taught everyone a lesson: just sing! It's getting pretty tough to pick a bottom three now with some great contestants left. Although, one of my picks for the bottom is easy still. Guess who? If you read Boquinha's post (which I haven't yet) I understand she has similar feelings about one of the contestants. Did they put the Cooks back-to-back this week to get more publicity for Celebrity Chefs With Knives, A.K.A. Hell's Kitchen?

Michael Johns: I really liked his performance and thought he sang it fairly well, but I agree with the judges. This is not his natural element. He really needs to start listening to the judges and not just doing his own thing. They know what they are talking about when it comes to his song selections.

Syesha Mercado: Ooooooh. She picked a Fantasia song. I'm so shocked, as Fantasia may as well be the A.I. version of a true diva. I was quite worried the judges might over-praise (is that a word?) her again, but they gave her her due to an extent. She has talent but isn't nearly as good as everyone says she is. She picked a song that draws direct comparision, which apparently Syesha keeps missing each week, or she's so full of herself that she actually thinks she is as good as Whitney, Fantasia, Mariah, and any other one-name diva out there. Can you tell who I'm sick of at this point? If not, you can be in my bottom three, too.

Jason Castro: What an awesome selection. He is not the most vocally talented performer, but he has one of the keenest senses of who he is as a performer and nailed this one. I'm glad the judges gave him his due. I'm looking forward to the Castro album.

Kristy Lee Cook: Is it me or is this girl getting more and more confident as the weeks go on. It doesn't hurt that the past few weeks have lent themselves to perfect song choices for her. She does very well with country type songs and had another very nice performance. She should be around for a bit longer if fans pick the truly deserving contestants.

David Cook: This was a stinker for him and he knew it as soon as it was over. The song was a decent choice but he didn't nail it like he usually does. I was a bit let down by David this week.

Carly Smithson: I'm going to tell you right now, the judges don't have as much influence as they would like to think, but at this point their comments to help or hurt a contestant's chances. Carly deserves a bit more praise and a little less harsh criticism than she's been getting. I think the judges want more from her because they think she's one of the best, but they are going to put wannabes like Syesha through and send Carly home with their antics lately. Granted, Carly's song selection was off this week, but she still sounded pretty good and deserves more pseudopraise.

David Archuleta: When David A. found out about the theme this week here's what he probably thought:

"Inspirational songs. Calm down. Get centered. Don't get too excited, but this is your week. Finally you can pick a song you love and not have it sound out of place. You love these songs and this week that's OK."

Somehow I see him being one of those Michael W. Smith type of performers and ending up on some W.O.W. compilation somewhere. "W.O.W.: Christian Songs from the Young Ones." You know what I'm talking about. He did very well this week, although I think Randy was smoking something when he said it was his best performance of the season.

Brooke White: I'm surprised they had her go last this week with this song. Not that she did poorly or that it was a silly song choice, but it just wasn't one of those obvious showstoppers they seem to try to include at the end. I liked her performance although the James Taylor vibe suits it more in my opinion, not that it's really that different. It was solid but nothing "wow."

MY TOP THREE: Jason, and then some others
MY BOTTOM THREE: Syesha (shock!), Brooke, and Michael (based on performances this week if I'm being honest)
INSPIRING ELLEN DEGENERES ON HER SHOW THIS WEEK: Syesha, or no one if Idol is Giving Back on Thursday.

Oh PLEASE let it be Syesha

2008-04-08T23:38:00.003-05:00

On this special occasion when Idol gives back, I hope they start by giving Syesha back to the world of "working actresses" ASAP. Garg, she gets on my nerves.

I think Ryan Seacrest is gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But seriously, those of you with Tivo, hit rewind and watch him closely as he exits the big magic stage doors.

Michael Johns (“Dream On” by Aerosmith)
I thought this was a really good performance on him! What is wrong with Randy tonight? He's so critical! I liked it and when he turns on the Australian Tennis Player Charm, I forget about any off notes anyway. Dream on indeed.

Syesha Mercado (“I Believe” by Fantasia)
I. Can't. Stand. Her. In case you couldn't tell from the title or my opening sentence, I dislike her. A lot. Only Ramiele "gets" her. That's code for "Nobody likes me." Well, guess what? Ramiele seems to have the social intelligence of a 12-year-old so she likes everybody. The point isn't that Ramiele likes you. It's that nobody else does! How is this girl getting voted through? She gets WAY too much credit week after week while they tear down other, perfectly good performances.

And are you freaking kidding me?! Doing a Fantasia song?? You're less stupid if you do Whitney or Celine. In my opinion (and I said this before she sang and before Randy uttered a word), Fantasia is the BEST idol to ever grace that stage and no one (do you hear me, Syesha?), NO ONE can do what she did on that song.

She wasn't good. She doesn't connect. She was pitchy and weak and it was just very, very bad. She is totally full of herself and *thinks* she sounds better than she does. Ick. Ick ick ick. I agree with Magistra who says, "She constantly performs as if she is singing to herself in a mirror and worrying about how pretty she’s looking."

Oh, please let it be her who exits this week. Please!

Jason Castro (“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole)
Omigosh! Omigosh! I love this guy! LOVE this guy! This was, bar none, the best performance of the evening, as Simon says, "By. A. Mile." I love Jason!! This was a fantastic song choice. I was worried when he started out with the ukulele but when the strings kicked in, oh wow! Guess what, America? Jason's voice "melts like lemon drops." So soothing. So unique. So real. I love it. LOVE it. However he places in this competition, we're so buying his album. Love him.

Kristy Lee Cook (“Anyway” by Martina McBride)
I've got to hand it to her and give credit where it's due. She seems more confident. She's doing great with country (which seems to be a genre in the music industry that can make anyone a star). She's beautiful. And she's working hard. I'm impressed. I mean country isn't my thing, but I'm simply being honest . . . she deserves to be in the competition more than Syesha, in my opinion.

David Cook (“Innocent” by Our Lady Peace)
Yikes. I love David Cook, but this was not good. And I've got to hand it to the guy, he knew it, too. Something was up. And I love that he didn't excuse it or argue it. His face said it all. And I give him mad props for that. He does not do well with low notes and most of the song was down there. What was he thinking? And then that weird thing at the end where he's singing (in not a good way) to Paula and then showing his hand to the camera? I'm surprised that Simon actually liked that! I think he's great and that he'll stick around, but this was not his best week. Still, Syesha should go.

Carly Smithson (“The Show Must Go On” by Queen)
I like the song and I like Queen. How do we not have a Queen CD? (Honey, put "Queen's Greatest Hits" on the "Thing We Splurge On with Our Refund" list--thanks). And Carly is likable and she has such beautiful eyes (I think I said that like 10 times during her performance. I know, some of you would've hit me.) Sigh. I don't so much mind that they criticize her as I do that they criticize her and not grrrrrrrrrrr Syesha.

David Archuleta (“Angels” by Robbie Williams)
Great song. Great performance. I expected something a big more in-your-face inspirational. This was a pleasant surprise. Not sure what more to say. It was very good. A million times better than Syesha's. (Now, I'm simply trying to mention her in every comment, yes.)

Brooke White (“You’ve Got a Friend” by Carole King)
That's the performance on which they decided to wrap up the evening? It was okay, but not show stopping. And I have to say that I love when Simon (or anyone with a British accent) says something and then follows it up with a rhetorical question phrased like a statement--"Well that was like a pleasant walk in the park, wasn't it." I like Brooke and it was good, but I really can not STAND that weird, fake, pained Utah Mormon facial expression she makes. The one that says, "Awwwww, did you find a piece of lint in your belly button? I'm so sorry!" (Omigosh, I'm having bad flashbacks to one of my college roommates who used to do the same thing!) Just look NORMAL. She's awkward on stage, but in a fairly endearing way (when she's singing, not when she's making that weird, fake, pained Utah Mormon face). Could it be that she'll take Kristy's seat in the bottom three when she joins Syesha there this week??

Favorite of the night: Jason (By. A. Mile. Remember?)
Bottom 3: Syesha and who cares who else
Idol Gives Back by sending home: Syesha

Top 8 - Inspirational Songs!

2008-04-08T21:04:00.005-05:00

Michael Johns - Starts out with a good song. It wasn't quite up to the original, but he fairly owned it. Randy didn't love it. Paula was more supportive. Simon called it a little "wanna be-ish" and Randy agreed.

It looks like there's a lot of energy tonight, so it should be an interesting show.

Syesaha - Sings a Fantasia joint, and does fairly well, ending with an amazing high note that was a little freaky, actually. Randy compared her with Fantasia and, of course, she fell short. Paula is more supportive. Even Simon acknowledges her technical handling of the song, but says it didn't give him the "emotional" connection that Fantasia brought to it. Simon has emotions?!?

Jason - Over the Rainbow - Kind of a weak arrangement, centering around his ~~banjo~~ ukelele. Just okay, for me. Randy goes crazy over it. Paula loved it too. Simon loved it too. I guess I'm outvoted here.

Kristy - Finally found a song she could really connect with. The judges all liked it, too. She may be around a bit more.

David C. - Started a little weak but developed well. Nevertheless, one of the weaker performances tonight. Randy didn't love it (I see a pattern). Paula loved it. Simon thought it "pompous."

Carly - Another good performance from her. None of the judges liked it. Simon thought it was oversung to the point of feeling "angry," and said she might be in trouble.

David A. - A great song choice, which follows well on his performance of Imagine, and seems to build on it. He does it very well, and the judges love it unanimously.

Brooke - 'You've Got A Friend' - not the most powerful of inspirational songs, but one of my favorites. Her phrasing is a bit stiff and unmelodic. As much as I like her, it was pretty unimpressive. Just okay for Randy. Paula is supportive. Simon gives it "pleasant."

Tops and Props - David A., the rest, with Props to Michael Johns, and, yes, Syesha.

Bottoms - Brooke, and David C.

Leaving - Sadly, I think it's Brooke.

Tale of the Thumbs

2008-04-03T12:37:00.002-05:00

WARNING: It's another generous week. Lots of thumbs up and only one down. And one "Syesha's not a good singer" from The Boy. I guess she's not rock and roll enough for him.

Brooke White: two thumbs up (plus double bonus)
David Cook: two thumbs up (plus the predictable rock-n-roll bonus from The Boy)
Ramiele Malubay: two thumbs up (plus the generous bonus from The Boy)
Jason Castro: two thumbs up (plus the guitar bonus from The Boy)
Carly Smithson: two thumbs up (bonus from . . . are you ready . . . The Boy)
David Archuleta: two thumbs up (double bonus, as expected)
Kristy Lee Cook: one thumb up and one "present" vote (he said he was reading a book and wasn't really listening--how's that for an endorsement)
Syesha Mercado: one thumb up and one thumb down (apparently The Boy is not impressed by long, high notes, and reference his above comment)
Michael Johns: two thumbs up (and a bonus, yet again, from The Boy)

Top 9 Minus 1 - Dolly Parton Performs!

2008-04-02T21:59:00.004-05:00

Michael Johns is up first. He's safe.

David Archuleta is next. He's safe.

Carly Smithson is next. She's safe. I'm glad Simon's influence is somewhat limited.

The live questions were entertaining.

The Clark Brothers need a better singer. The dobro guitar player had some interesting picking, but otherwise I was unimpressed.

David Cook is next. He's safe.

Ramiele Malubay is next. Predictably, she's in the bottom three.

Kristy Lee Cook is next. She correctly anticipated being in the bottom three.

Syesha Mercado is next. She's safe for another week.

Brooke White and Jason Castro are last. I'm guessing Jason. No, he's safe.

Brooke, Ramiele and Kristy are the bottom three. I'm sticking to guessing Ramiele, and will be slightly bothered if it's Brooke, though she's really gonna have to bring it if she gets to stick around another week, or her departure is inevitable. I just can't believe Syesha has more of a following than her.

The reunion of the two sisters in Africa was great.

Dolly Parton sings an odd little song, 'Jesus And Gravity', but does a good job. Her voice is a little less melodious than in her prime, but she sure knows how to connect with a crowd.

Randy guesses Ramiele. Simon says it won't be Brooke.

Brooke is safe. Yay.

Kristy is safe.

Ramiele is leaving. She's young...she'll do alright. At the least, Ellen Degeneres will have her on, as she has done with almost every other "castoff" this season. as she calls them. I guess they're back to torturing the losers by making them sing themselves off, but she fights off the copious tears and manages it quite well.

See you next week...

Country Week--Thumbs Down from Simon

2008-04-02T07:22:00.002-05:00

I had my doubts about a week devoted to Dolly Parton. I'm not a fan, and quiet honestly couldn't name more than a few songs she recorded. I had no idea she wrote so many songs. This week may be alright.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Just the theme alone is enough to predict a stormy mood from the Brit. He never "gets" country music, and I don't believe for one second that he "loves" country music. Paula was a bit happy tonight, although not as happy as weeks past. Is Randy trying to tone down the criticism so people will like him again? Last week he was a mad dawg. This week he's a moderately sedated one. I feel badly for the second half of the contestants in the week they go from 90 minutes to one hour. They get half-hearted critique and a lightning speed Ryan running the numbers. And then Paula uses the last contestant as a chance to praise all of the contestants that night with a minimal attempt to address the final singer. Let AI run over. "Hell's Kitchen" can wait a few. Or better yet, shorten the local news. Heaven knows it's mostly fluff anyway.

BROOKE WHITE: First slot is always a challenge because it gets easy to forget them. I thought she was good, not great, but showed why she has a good following. She was actually trying to listen to Simon when the crowd started booing and Paula started cutting him off. I guess at this point they figure, "Why mess with the formula?"

DAVID COOK: Now what in the world was he going to do with Parton week. I guess pick a song I don't know and show his creativity. The Daughtry interview where they give him the chance to explain past weeks' arrangements was nice to get out of the way early. Another great performance.

RAMIELE MALUBAY: Boring. Predictable. Bleh. She's got a lot of vocal talent, but she is just not keeping up at this point. Randy's 6.5 out of 10 was a decent assessment, and at this point it's just not good enough.

JASON CASTRO: I really liked his performance. I think his voice is a bit weak for such a big stage, but at the same time, he is a great performer that knows his niche. The postcard was right: his voice is smooth and relaxing. He can stick around.

CARLY SMITHSON: Great performance from her this time. Too bad Simon had to go to appearances on her. I'm sure he feels they could both make a bit more money with a different look. But isn't this a singing competition, not a popularity contest?

DAVID ARCHULETA: Ballads are his thing. It seems that's where he is his best. This week was really good and should keep him going through. Let's be honest, though. He could walk on stage, eat a bunch of cheese, and then sit down and his fans would still vote him through.

KRISTY LEE COOK: Country, so you knew she'd seem at home. I'm not sure why she picks the songs she does, but oh well. She is definitely not strong enough to make it much further, but at least this week was a nice follow-up from last week.

SYESHA MERCADO: It's sad when I forget to review a contestant until I'm putting together My Bottom Three and I notice someone is missing. She was good. She has a good voice, but I was not surprised she picked a song better equated with Whitney Houston than Dolly Parton, even if she did the latter's arrangement for the most part. And I knew the judges would have some problems with diva comparisons. Syesha just needs to stay away from comparison songs because it is rare to nail them. Song selection was the problem here.

MICHAEL JOHNS: Awesome! This is his style and it was a great performance. I'm surprised the judges didn't pick up more on his vocal stylings, but then again, time for crazy chefs wielding knives. His falsetto was great, the mini-band was perfect, and he's looking more and more like a Top 3'er like I originally predicted.

MY TOP THREE: Michael Johns, David Cook, and then one of a few others
MY BOTTOM THREE: Ramiele Malubay, Syesha Mercado, Kristy Lee Cook (someone's gotta be there)
JUST TRAVELIN' THROUGH: Ramiele Malubay

Top 9 with Dolly Parton!

2008-04-01T20:10:00.002-05:00

Dolly Parton mentors this week. Good news for Brooke, who is up first.

Brooke - 'Jolene' - decent performance, but not stellar. Randy and Paula are supportive. Simon thinks she deserves the honesty of his insults.

David C. - 'Little Sparrow' - I don't know this song, but I like how he is doing it. Very good, but not astonishing. Randy and Paula liked it, too. Simon notes that it doesn't match last week, but was good, nonetheless.

Ramiele - I don't know the song, but, as Dolly notes, it does seem to match her bouncy, spunky personality. Some pitch and timing issues, so just alright. Randy agrees, giving it 6.5 out of 10. Paula is more supportive. Simon demotes it to "cruise ship" quality.

Jason - Another unfamiliar but pleasant song. He does it competently but no fireworks. Randy and Paula, supportive. Simon didn't like it.

Carly - 'Here You Come Again' - One of Dolly's biggest, with her own twist. Chills time! A beautiful interpretation and what tonight has been missing until now. Made me applaud, alone in my living room. Randy and Paula loved it. Simon, unbelievably, manages to downplay both the performance and her manner of dressing.

David A. - 'Smoky Mountain Memories' - A John Denver style joint. A good choice for his voice, but not everyone will like the choice of a gospel-type song. I thought it was very well done, but a bit less powerful than Carly's choice, in my view. All the judges, including Simon, loved it.

Kristy - 'Coat Of Many Colors' - She looks great and sings it very well. Randy likes her doing country. Paula gives it her best ever. Simon sticks to last week being her best song choice.

Syesha - 'I Will Always Love You' - A nice, big diva song. Dolly seems to hint that she, not being shy at all, just did her own thing (and didn't take her advice). It starts out very poorly, with bad timing and more problems. She cleans it up at the end, but that didn't redeem it for me. Randy and Paula are supportive. Simon liked the first part but not the second, exactly opposite my take. All said, I don't think it helped her at all.

Michael - 'It's All Wrong But It's Alright' - A bluesy joint, which he handles very well. Randy and Paula loved it. Simon says it's his best ever.

Tops and Props: Carly, David A, Michael, David C.

Bottoms: Ramiele and, for me, Syesha. Jason and Brooke were slammed by Simon, but I think they'll make it through, and were in the middle, for me.

Leaving: My guess is Ramiele, who's been hanging on by a thread for a while now.

Tale of the Thumbs

2008-03-27T12:41:00.001-05:00

I know, I know. This week's action is all over, but the kids are just now getting to it. Here are their ratings before we watch the elimination action.

Ramiele Malubay: two thumbs up (bonus from The Boy)
Jason Castro: one thumb up, one thumb sideways (Wisdom from The Boy: "He likes singing words we don't know")
Syesha Mercado: one thumb up, one thumb sideways
Chikezie: two thumbs up (oops!)
Brooke White: two thumbs up (plus two more)
Michael Johns: two thumbs up (plus the rock 'n' roll bonus from The Boy)
Carly Smithson: two thumbs up ("Daddy, is this rock 'n' roll?" Then comes the extra thumb.)
David Archuleta: Double thumbs up (for once little brother isn't tormenting The Girl.)
Kristy Lee Cook: two thumbs up (bonus from The Boy--I think he's smitten)
David Cook: two thumbs up (guess who gave the bonus thumb?)

Top 10 Minus 1 - Kimberley Locke Performs!

2008-03-26T22:00:00.004-05:00

Chikezie is first up and clearly nervous. He correctly anticipates being in the bottom three.

Brooke White sticks to her guns about adding in the orchestra. She's safe.

Carly Smithson is safe.

David A. is safe.

David C. is safe.

Syesha is in the bottom three despite the judges' praise. Apparently America agrees with Bo.

Michael is safe.

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Kimberley Locke sounds good and looks great!

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Ah. The 76 million bought more than just mosquito nets. My mistake.

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Ramiele is safe.

Jason and Kristy are last. Will Kristy follow her trend from the last elimination and be in the bottom? No. She's safe and Jason is in the bottom three.

Jason is safe, leaving Chikezie and Syesha as the bottom two.

I'm thinking Chikezie may be leaving, as Syesha did better than him last night, but who knows?

Syesha is safe, justifying Randy's and Paula's approval of her performance last night.

Chikezie is out, but he'll do well with his personality and talent.

See you next week!