JORDIN SPARKS IS AMERICAN IDOL 6!!!

The American Idol Winner is….

JORDIN SPARKS!!! The chosen one (at least by Randy), she got a big boost during country night when Simon decreed “you COULD win”. That’s a very important step to any idol during the year. She had a few very memorable performances, but for the most part was very up and down, more up and down than any winner prior. She CAN sing though, and as entertaining as Blake was, it’s funny that the singer clearly beat out the entertainer when it was down to one on one. I think the final four hurt Blake, if you were a Laksiha or Melinda fan, Jordin was closer to them than Blake was style-wise (Blake wasn’t close to anyone style-wise) and she probably kept picking up votes.

The finale itself was a good show, although it showcased a few things that hurt the overall choice. One, Jordin wasn’t close to the most entertaining performer, even among the idols. She was even outshined by Blake, who really stole the show along with Doug E Fresh. Sanjaya was a fantastic mess, and with Joe Perry and his adoring (crying) fan along for the joke it was really fun. More Gwen Stefani (GO AWAY!), a frightening Bette Milder performance (the skirt and the little twirl just about killed me) and plenty of idol winners! Carrie shined (she’s really good, there’s no denying), Kelly was great, Ruben was great, and Taylor was a totally disinterested mess. (I’m erasing him from the banks of winners and declaring Clay a co-winner in season 2 to keep us at 6 winners.)

And our pool winners are….
-MARIA P in 1st $308 (Yes Barbara, you did help her pick…)
-KIM C in 2nd $88
-Winnie, Barbara, Eiko, Gregory, L Janney, Lincoln, Meri, Ruthie and Soenum in 3rd $5 each!
Please contact me today for your winnings. =)

Couple of things for next year….
-We will be doing a 1 to 12 type picking, to give more week to week reason to care about your picks. (Although you still only pick once.) Some people were blocked from winning from the first day because the picks were the same and the tiebreaker was not. That’s not fun, to basically lose your $10 before anyone even sings! I’ll send ideas out to some of you to get feedback. (This idea from Joel.)
-Idol desperately needs to ditch the singing of the “Idol Song”. Let the winner sing the song AFTER they win. The song is awful, it ends the finale badly, and it never suits both singers.
-They should weed out the people with more professional training to be honest. For the most part, they are boring.
- http://americanidolny.blogspot.com/ I think I’ll post some more thoughts here if you wish to discuss…need to think on the season a bit more. Best moments and all that. Thanks again to Nam on the blog idea and starting it up.

IDOL FINALE TONIGHT

The finale is tonight. Lots of old idol talent is around, with Jennifer Hudson, Katherine McPhee, Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry and other all in the city. Will they be on the show? I don’t want to spoiler anything but I’ve seen some of the guests, and it looks like it will be a great show. Last year’s finale was actually very good with a lot of interesting performances and I see no reason this won’t be the same.

As far as last night…a lackluster end to a lackluster season.
BLAKE: Being a gentleman he went first and allowed Jordin to go last. He started with YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME, good, but lacking the surprise impact it had the first time. His second song YOU WILL BE LOVED was very nice, but not loved by the judges. I thought it was nice but it’s not a great show. Then, the Idol single, the bland, feeling less ode to how great this moment should be that has not worked since Kelly ripped through A MOMENT LIKE THIS. It wasn’t his style song, he half assed it and it was a terrible way to end for him.

JORDIN: Jordin started out with FIGHTER (Christina Aguilera) and it was pretty awful. Randy loved the singing though. She then sang her redo, BROKEN WING which was probably even better than the first time she sang it, totally winning over Simon. She ended with the Idol single THIS IS MY NOW, which sounded more natural coming from her and wasn’t at all bad. She wasn’t great but she was good and she sang well, and the dichotomy with Blake really showed. You kind of felt at that point that she had won.

If anyone had an agenda last night it was Randy. Simon seemed generally won over by Jordin by her third song. Randy seemed won over by Jordin prior to her first song. She was clearly out sung by Blake in the first song, but he went out of his way to rationalize it. When she shined, he was over the top in his praise again. Randy, you like Jordin. We get it. The other thing with an agenda was the (always bad) Idol single. It was made to be sung by a woman, and as a R&Bish ballad. Um, hello? How is that fair? NBA Playoff comparison again, its like the NBA suspending the Suns and allowing the Spurs to win, I don’t think it’s an attempt to cheat, I think it’s people in charge too stupid to sit back and say “Hey, this might not be fair”.

My prediction, our American Idol winner is JORDIN SPARKS. I really want to say Blake, and I thought he had a chance going into last night but he was really outshined by Jordin. It would be a real upset at this point if Blake was able to pull it off. It doesn’t have the Fantasia or Taylor feeling of just a coronation, but it may be close by the time we get to the end of tonight’s show.

Idol Finale - Blake vs. Jordin

After 4 months, a few very minor scandals, the most awful contestant ever (and everyone and their mom trying to take credit for his success), and only one minor shock elimination, we have our American idol finale, a finale that not even one person in our pool saw coming. Kind of a dull season, reminds me of what the NBA is going through right now. It has compelling teams, but not good enough to win. This year’s idol had some compelling personalities; unfortunately they were not the people who could sing!

Tonight: 3 Songs each, their own choice, one repeat performance (again making me wonder why Melinda and Jordin did repeat performances last week), and the IDOL SINGLE, from the songwriter contest.

The Tale of the Tape
Jordin Sparks: Age 17 from Glendale AZ. Has no formal singing training. (Insert joke here.) Daughter of former NY Giant Cornerback Phillipi Sparks. High Point of Season: First time singing “I Who Have Nothing”. Really started to set herself apart from the pack at that point. Worst Moment: “Hey Baby”. Intensely bad performance and her clothes were best described as “interesting”. Hard to find interesting facts, all her answers in her interview are very vanilla, but she’s 17. Her fanclub is “Let the Sparks Fly”. (Ouch, that’s bad.)

Blake Lewis: Age 25 from Bothell WA. Has formal singing training. Best known for his beatboxing, but that was only a small part of his original audition. (They only showed that.) High Point of season: Probably “You Give Love a Bad Name” simply for how original it was and that it worked. Low Point of Season: Bee Gees night, just a mess and the judges really gave it to him for it. Hard to find interesting facts too, all his answers are sarcastic, Chris Sligh is his favorite American Idol, there hardest obstacles in his life were “the hardest obstacles in his life”, etc. His fanclub is “The Blake Lewis fanclub” (original!), but he also has CAKE, the Chris/Blake fanclub as well.

I’ll predict tomorrow after I see how they do. I’ll also resend the winning scenarios one more time then

i doubt I will blog live tonight. It depends how the dog feels, i need to get her from the vet after some minor surgery. Between in pain dog and baby wanting to eat it might be difficult to see the show much less be on the net.

The Top two is...WHOA!

And our top two is

JORDIN

and

BLAKE!

WHOA!!!! You know, I always wondered how popular Melinda was. Answer: Less popular than Jordin and Blake. Think about it for a second - we all liked Melinda but most of us were not "Doolitte-heads " or some strange nickname (no claymates, no soul patrol). She just very efficiently went out and did her thing week after week, better than most (not always best, but always second or third.) If she was a team, she'd be the Spurs. Quietly efficient if not over exciting. Still, if my vote was the only vote, she'd be in my final two.

The young vote must be HUGE this year, not only is Jordin in the final, but Blake too! It's really a tossup - i know people say Jordin is the chosen one, but I think that is overexaggerating her support by the judges to a huge degree.

I'll analyze the final two later. Sorry for no emails this week, but this week has SUCKED to say the least.

SO let's wish a fond goodbye to Melinda, who entered this show a shy backup singer, and probably left it a star. She was likable, gave a good performance week after week (My Funny Valentine was just AWESOME) and left a mark in a good way. First person I'm sorry to see eliminated this whole season.

Top 3! Let the (Semi) Finals Begin...

Crappy crappy day. I need idol to recover this. Jefferies contingent, when's lunch? =) Somewhere my laptop sits wasting away from someone who snatched it not realizing its worthless to all but me cause its old and slow. Thank you person who snatched it, and please don't do anything like step in front of a truck, etc.

Ok, so there are three..

Melinda - The best singer in the competition. Very polished. On a show (today's) where songs are chosen specifically to make a singer look good, she may have a very good moment, finally her SUMMERTIME. The only bad thing you can say about her is none of the most memorable performances this year IMO are from her. Also skews older on a show that's not such a good thing. Still, I'd call her the favorite, albeit slightly.

Jordin - Great singer, obviously younger and less experiences that Melinda. Has had more big moments, but also many more bad moments. Has more potential for a huge moment IMO than any of the others. I'd call her second.

Blake - The Last remaining guy. Has more style than the other two remaining people. Not even close as strong a singer, but maybe has a larger fanbase, and more different than the other two are different from each other. They are competing with each other more than he is with them.

Let the games begin...

First JORDIN and WISHING ON A STAR. (beyonce style?) Well, that was average. And she was obnoxious toward Simon. Good move. First time i thought she was an obnoxious teenager. What a start...

Next BLAKE and ROXANNE. Ohh nice choice. Notice how Blake gets the effects on his voice. I think he puts more effort in planning out his performances than the other people. Good performance, not that great (i was going to say earth shattering but Simon stole my words).

Now MELINDA and I BELIEVE IN YOU AND ME. Ohh, Whitney, She's gonna rip this to shreds. Loved it. Great. A step below earth shattering (like Lakisha on Bon Jovi week) but really good. Beat the other two. Simon loves it too. Just noticed, Melinda got the post position. Always a good thing.

ROUND 1 - MELINDA

JORDIN and SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY. Good, much better than the first one. Not fantastic again but a good second effort. Simon is giggling over what Paula said which i missed. What did she say?

BLAKE and THIS LOVE. Great choice, Blake MUST beatbox on every song..seriously one performance without it wouldn't kill him. Very curious what judges say. They like it a lot. Go Blake!

MELINDA and NOT BUSH CITY LIMITS (did i massacre that?) Don't like it....very old sounding. Sounds like something in my parent's car. Technically good but dull to be honest. (Note, no love for Melinda's mom. Where was the applause when she said her mom is her idol? That's cool!) I think Randy is too loose with the praise today, if everyone is good no one is good. (See Paula). Judges loved it though so what do I know.

ROUND 2 - BLAKE (Simon says tie)

JORDIN and a song she sang before which she proceeds to not sing as well as she did last time. What was that? Jeez....

BLAKE and a song i missed the name of. Very cool. Sampled which is strange on idol. Very good block of worth by Blake tonight.

MELINDA and a song she sang before but she proceeds to sing just as well as better than, Seriously, is it that hard to sing a different song? I always feel like Melinda does just enough to skate by - she could BLOW these people away. I hope she does good in the final, cause she will be there!

My predicition, Melinda (well well deserved) and someone else...haha...

and goodnight...

Top Three - Three Songs Each...

We have three songs each, the judges choice, the singers choice, and Clive Davis's choice. (I originally typed CLIVE BARKER here, which would be quite bizarre.) I've heard Paula does Blake's choice, Simon Jordin's, and Randy Melinda's. Very little info out beside that, not even confirmation that Clive Davis is on the show. I've also heard the personal song choices for Jordin and Melinda may be songs they did already. I really hope this is not the case and it's just a rumor.

So who does everyone thing will win? I'll post what I think pre-show tomorrow on everyone's chances...

Idol Results - Top 4!

We are live as Idol kills time, with Pink performing (i do not approve) Jessica Alba and Fantastic Four 2 preview (I approve Alba at least), and what the contestants have in common (not much!). And now...we go to the break....

If Lakisha showed this much personality the whole time, she might be in a better spot. And I HATE Blake's shirt. HATE HATE HATE. Blake constantly is on the line between edgy and modern and self indulgent. Ill let you guess what I think of the shirt. Speaking of Blake and indulgences (Bad joke) he's dating Antonella. Wonder what the Blake Girls would think of that....

Jordin is safe...yah....

Only 1 song for each contestant today to download. BOO....(although that evil second song Blake did is gone which is good).

Hey, is anyone reading? Am i supposed to bring donuts or is Winnie? Lol...

Andy Gibb performance....

AND (DRUMROLL)

Melinda..SAFE!

Simon gets booed for having the audacity to pick someone to go...

AND.....after 45 quabillion votes....

BLAKE IS SAFE!

Lakisha is out....

not shocking...so far not really any shockers.....

Top 4 - Bee Gees /

We are down to four! I really feel like everyone is vulnerable, although Melissa going out would be a bit of a shock. Tonight the theme is songs written by the Bee Gees (not neccesarily sung by them). Idol really needs to release more info, i'm not sure if both songs are Bee Gees or if there are even two songs each. They have done both in the final four (Two from theme, and one from theme one from other.) Barry Gibb is confirmed to be mentoring the finalists.

Lakisha is the wildcard I think, Blake and Melinda shocked no one, and as far as are pool goes Jordin is a surprise, but not a surprise to anyone who has seen her recently.

Great fun. Hopefully I can blog live tonight.

(No email from me today as I missed work as I was a bit under in case anyone is wondering.)

Top 6 (to be 4) Results Show

Ryan, Simon and company are having too much fun. So far, clips from last night, the opinion of the people (nice they show like 80 year old people as Melinda fans and everyone else has younger fans). Clips of last weeks Idol Aid show. (I'm not thrilled with the term IDOL AID. it sounds like a charity for older stars.) Once again i must mention how great Carrie Underwood was. She really was awesome.

Next, we lose ONE of our top 6. Who will it be??

It's Melinda, Lakisha and Phil. Total of 60+ million votes this week since there was 70 plus last week. That 100% throws off my theory that this week wouldn't move the bar as Phil is eliminated! Well, we knew that was coming although I really thought Lakisha was vulnerable. YAH! She is safe....after last night I really wanted her to stay around. First spot really sucks...

Let's say goodbye to Chris soon....Chris, Blake and Jordin. HMM..... Blake and Chris last. God id be mad if its chris still here after this...

Bon Jovi singing a newish song. Good as you'd expect. We should keep them around next week too!

Cake fans must be dying. Blake and Chris are best buds. Blake is very short i notice....and Chris is going home! Thank god, not Blake. Basically no shocking elimination. I'd think Chris was lower votewise than Phile but who knows.

And we are out...see you next week!

Idol Top 6 Wrapup

I thought last night’s show was actually really good. Bon Jovi was an excellent guest, and he helped a few people really play to their strengths even though they really differentiated away from what would be considered “Bon Jovi’s sound”. Amazing that Bon Jovi, an 80‘s hair metal band to begin with, has enough songs that Idol can plan a week around them and have it turn out good and good in various styles.

Phil – Blaze of Glory: Not bad at all, but at this point I really feel Phil is a very good also-ran. I’m still not sure what Phil’s niche is. Still may be in trouble.
Jordin – Living on a Prayer: Haha, total mess. Karaoke type shout along! Looked a mess. If they weren’t netting votes, might actually have problems.
Lakisha – This Ain’t a Love Song: Similar to what Melinda did (see below) she sang a more niche song from Bon Jovi, however she RIPPED this song to threads. Probably her second best performance. Simon (literally) gave her a kiss for it. Plus she spoke this week! Looked happy! Really great.
Blake – You Give Love a Bad Name: Quite possibly the most original idol performance ever. He did everything but sing the song as it was written for the first 90 seconds or so, and then, he blasted through the chorus as he needed to do (you can’t sing this song without shouting along to the chorus!) Very risky but I thought I worked real well. Judges agreed!
Chris – Wanted Dead or Alive: He wasn’t bad but he’s clearly not close to the top. If he goes, it won’t bother me at all. Nowhere near Daughtry’s take on this last year.
Melinda – Have a Nice Day: I liked it but not really a blow away performance. I always think it’s a mistake when there’s a famous guest to take a song that’s not so well known. She’s so good it doesn’t matter, but not what you’ll remember the next day to be honest.

I thought Chris, Phil and Lakisha were weak going in. Lakisha was really strong though, so I’m having second thoughts on that. It really depends on the voting from the prior week and how many votes were cast tonight. If tonight’s votes are less than half of last week, it could not be enough to pull out a contestant that was weak last week. There’s really no way to tell.

There will be Munchkins today in honor of tonight’s eliminations (in plural!) since I may not be in tomorrow. From now on we will have elimination munchkins (I need to stop by for the Jefferies people!) and the last week hopefully donuts donated by a gracious winner (hint hint!). For next week the file will be set up to run scenarios on winners and such, and I will run down the remaining Top 4 and any odds source / trend I can find.

IDOL TOP 6/7!! Rock Week with Jon Bon Jovi

It's rock week with Bon Jovi. Classic Rock songs or songs written by Jon Bon Jovi are the order of the day. Live blogging is possible, my baby is sleeping and dinner should be done. YAH!!!

49 minutes till showtime. Should be great. Have to think Chris and Lakisha are very vulnerable.

Ok, its ONLY Bon Jovi songs.

Phil first. I thought he was really good, good energy singing a song that's really corny wordwise anyway. (Sorry fans!) Simon has no real use for Phil it seems.

Jordin was a bit of a mess though entertaining. Awful song choice for her. Impossible song to sing without sounding karaokish. She got blasted by the judges.

Lakisha showing personality, taking a more obscure song (This Aint a Love Song) and just completely OWNING it in a way that she hasn't in what seems like forever. Simon loved it. Totally throws off the dynamic of the votes cause she coulnd't have been high last week, but she will be this week I think.

Blake completely turned YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME upside down. Totally difficult to explain, he beat boxed, made it kind of reggaeish, BUT did close with 30 or so seconds of the chorus shouted out the way it needed to. Most original idol performance ever. Just great....

Chris was pretty good although he couldn't really handle the song. I wonder if his fans can save him. Wanted Dead or Alive was a brave choice, and he did ok but I just wasn't loving it.

Melinda closed off with HAVE A NICE DAY. It was pretty good, as always. To me, if you saw Lakisha or Blake you can see what Melinda doesn't do, she doesn't own the song although she's always, `100% of the time one of the top three performances.

Great show! Bon Jovi was honest, and obviously coached them well as they were very solid.

It's GEORGE BUSH! Um, ok. Best to say nothing.

Idol Cares / Cops Out

Let’s say goodbye to….NO ONE! This week’s votes will be added to next week’s votes, and given that this week’s turnout was so high, should register about 60-70% of the total for the two weeks. And next week TWO people will be eliminated. So those given a stay of execution (I’m looking at you Lakisha and Chris), bring your A Game next week because you are not long for the show. The thing that bothered me the most about this was that they left Jordin last. Leave Lakisha last, or Phil, or someone who’s not 17 and expects to possible leave. Making Jordin cry in order to facilitate the surprise wasn’t very nice. The order of next week’s elimination in terms of the pool does not matter, both contestants are considered TIED and leaving at the same time unless Ryan says explicitly what the order was. (As in YOU had the lowest and YOU had the second lowest.) Which he won’t….

This week my favorites were Chris (shocking!), Blake and Melinda (as per usual) and Jordin. Jordin was actually really good and I think her performance would have stood out more if it wasn’t overshadowed by Randy proclaiming it the greatest thing EVER!!! (which it was not.) Chris and Blake both sang nice, if understated versions of their songs. And Melinda is Melinda! Phil was just as good as last week, although I’d be lying if I said he resonated with me even a little. It’s “Phil’s on, switch over to the Bulls game.” And Lakisha…very disappointing. Awful song choice, its not a very good song, and there’s no way she was beating Fantasia in the minds of the judges. And then she screamed it all the way through.

The Idol Cares show itself was very good. Almost all the performances were good, and even the cameo’s were funny. Carrie is really good and it’s hard to take anything away now from her victory. She’s almost always good every time she sings. Kelly Clarkson was also very good. The actual Idol Charity song was awful! But the cause was so good I’ll accept it! I’ll go download later as a donation. It really felt like the finale save for the clips. They were all really moving. I have to hand it to them, they took their usual hard sell and applied it to a great cause, and there is not one thing bad about that. Hopefully they raised a ton of money.

Did you see Sanjaya’s sister in the audience with the Simon “I’m watching Sanjaya sing” face? Probably due to the news coming about Momjaya (I’m not sure if it’s her prior arrest or a new one) and the fields of marijuana plants she was cultivating. (She was growing 210 plants.) Explains a lot about her son I’m thinking…

Top 6 Results Show - Idol Cares!

Two hour results show today with tons of performances and appearances, (supposably) Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Madonna, Bono maybe?

I'm thinking Lakisha and Chris in the bottom two. I feel like Phil is connecting with the audience, and that both Chris and Blake can't continue on forever. And Lakisha is really lacking in something right now, and maybe Jordin is syphoning her votes.

BTW
I heard Bono might do the mentoring next week but next week is Jon Bon Jovi's time supposably so I'm not sure.

Top 6 Live Thread

My daughter willing (if she's not grouchy!) I'll be posting my thoughts as they go. Please post too! See you at 8....

Couldnt post before, baby was eating! Saw it all though...

Liked Chris a lot today. Very surprising. I think if he comes along more, Blake will be hurt. They very literally share fans (CAKE).

Blake was good too if less so. Very understated but nice.

Melinda is just too good. There is something lacking in her personality wise that is keeping her from being an overwhelming favorite, and just a favorite. As good as she is, i dont wait for her to sing each week that much. Still, easily the best singer.

Phil put in another good performance. All of a sudden, Phil has joined the fray! If he's not bottom two, he may be in better shape than the other guys

Note: Where is Bono?

Lakisha again had a so so performance of a former idols song. Im not sure why you'd choose Fantasia's song, She is a judge favorite so unless you nail it, they will call you on it. O agree with the above poster, she may go out this week.

I really liked Jordin. I think she is the best young contestant in the history of the show. Shes like Diana with a better voice and personality. I think she has a legitimate chance at the final. The only thing bad about the performance was Randy overkilling on the praise. Best performance ever it was not.

All in all an interesting show. Prepared for 2 hours of fluff to get to the real point of tommorrow, the eliminatioN! (and feeding children in africa, its nice to see the idol machine at work on something like that)

Id say Blake, Lakisha, Phil and Chris all have a decent bottom three chance. I fear for Lakisha - if her fanbase is not good, shes out....
JUAN

Top 6 - Inspirational Songs / Idol Gives Back

Tonight is the 2 Hour IDOL GIVES BACK, where a donation will be made for every vote cast. There will be 4 hours of voting and 2 phone lines per contestant. The theme is inspirational songs. Expect lots of slow songs and some powerful vocal performances. The show was taped yesterday, so song choices, etc. are not any secret. (There’s a lot of stuff going on today, so I think time constraints are a concern.) And the coach today is (drumroll) BONO! Whoa…should be very interesting. Can’t get much better there… There’s lots of chances today for people to really shine, the list of songs they had to choose from has some real “Summertime” potential moments in there.

Tomorrow is the actual IDOL GIVES BACK show, with the elimination being wrapped around a ton of guest stars, including THE BIGGEST DUET IN MUSIC HISTORY (I think this may be them being cute rather than something real) and appearances by Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, among others. (Celine Dion is on tomorrow, there will be no Celine Dion themed night. Thank god.) Feels similar to the finale, lots of idols and lots of guests performing together.

Should be great, and no specter of the great Sanjaya hovering over us as well.

Sanjaya is gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, Viriginia there is a Santa Clause.

What a great elimination, we had the SCARE THE VOTE BASE TO VOTE PERSON (BLAKE), the SHOWING GREAT WEAKNESS PERSON (LAKISHA) and the PERSON WE ALL NEED TO GO (SANJAYA) and the right one went.

I'd expect Blake fans to rally (and Phil and Chris fans to be more complacent) but I'm worried Lakisha might not be around too much longer. She's one breakway performances from being a contender, but I've gone from wondering when it would happen to wondering if it will happen.

Next week should be interesting, with the charity concert and all, there will be lots of background noise to idol. Will people get lost in the shuffle? Will we get a shock elimination?

The other nice thing was Melinda coming across as so nice and genuine, especially in a week she was (once again) so kick ass. Go Melinda!

No more Fergie please. The theme of this season's guests seems to be catchy but annoying pop songs and the stars who sing them.

Week 7 Thoughts / Discussion Thread

I thought I'd post a thread for everyone to post their thoughts (all three of you!) tonight as well as me. I'll just update the main post I think when I can (when Kate is not yelling!). Country night, Simon criticizing the songs, strange song choices, and at least half of the performances songs I most likely hate! Good times...

Phil leads off....not my thing, but not bad! Great comments from the jduages, and Phil has a personality! Will it save him?

Jordin sings the guest's song! Always good to suck up. Really nice song! Really great vocals. You know, someone needs to go next week. I hope this keeps up.

Sanjaya was decent if by far the worst. He's not entertaining bad anymore, just bad bad. Sucked the momentum out of the show. I like how Ryan said LETS ALL GO WEAR RED BANDANA'S. Um, let's not unless we are all becoming a big gang (who hates Sanjaya i guess)

Lakisha was decent but SCREAMED through part of the song. Singing Carrie Underwood's song was not a bad choice i thought, but she tried to Lakisha it. Didn't work. Her worst is still pretty good though, but we are running out of time for her to recapture her Top 24 Magic. She was channeling Trenyce tonight, in the volume overpowering the singing.

Chris is next....not bad. Funny, i was telling my wife he's nasally, and Simon mentioned it, and Chris said ITS ON PURPOSE. Um, ok, you have this tone like you are plugging your nose and its on purpose.

Melinda was next and she was great! Simon scolded her on the WOW YOU REALLY LIKE ME! face, which is a few weeks too late on that in my opinion. I loved how she did the song in her own style, but stuck to the country theme, Very good...

Blake will cap it off! Every show should end Melinda / Blake...

Blake really channels the spirit of Morrisey. He has that same type of moody vocals. I really liked this. It sounded like The Cure does country. He knows himself as an artist more than anyone else in the show.

Interesting show. One would think Sanjaya, Chris, Phil and possible Lakisha will make up the bottom three. Hmm...

Top 7 Country Week with Martina McBride

It’s country week with Martina McBride! (I’m not sure who that is mind you, but she can’t be worse than J-Lo, whose coaching involved bringing Blake in to help Haley (worked great for Haley!) and teaching Lakisha the proper way to say CONGA… (say it CONGA, CONNNNGGGGGAAAAAA………) This week Marc Anthony said he’d like to take Sanjaya under his wing and make him a star… (moving on…)

Country week is interesting, because there are so many country songs that have been redone as mainstream pop or R&B (or vice versa) that this is really a theme that the artists can twist around to fit them. I’m hoping Lakisha, Jordin, etc. don’t take the easy way out and try a Faith Hill type ballad, but then again, it would probably be real good! There is enough variety that everyone should find something to suit them (even Sanjaya!).

I was going to handicap the remaining field, but I think I’ll wait for one more elimination. Phil is looking really vulnerable right now, as much as for his own appearance in the bottom two as the other contestants avoiding it for the most part. Should be an interesting week.

Why Akon?

I was watching last week's results show, and noticed (which i had forwarded throught) ANOTHER Akon performance. Do the people in charge of idol listen to Akon's music? (Note: I'm not sensitive and it doesn't bother me. But I'm not the 12 year old girls watching with their parent's idol targets to sell things to.) A polygamist, who is know for doing songs with gangster rappers, who about 95% of his album (even a clean version) probably couldn't be performed on idol. I'd love to see a parent who se kid likes Sanajaya ask for an Akon song and be able to download his smashes "Smack That" or "I Want to **** You" featuring Eminem and Snoop Doog respectively. Great fun!

Just wondering...he seems way too PG for Idol.

Top 8 Results Show....

Who will go? There's a couple of thoughts here, the deserving (Haley, Chris (yesterday) and Sanjaya (everyday except), the less popular (Phil) or the DREADED SHOCK ELIMINATION! (The three diva in the bottom three? The shocking Chris Daughtry elimination?)

There's more spoilers, theories about who goes out than i can ever remember. One sounds credible, but we shall see. Funny thing is all the spoilers basically indicate people trust the voting results, if hate them. Usually the conspiracies are idol is fixing the votes.

40 more minutes!!

and we have the bottom three, Chris, Phil and Haley! And HALEY goes home!!!

America, you have done well. And every single predictor (odds makers, dial idol, various prognosticators) ALL were wrong. All of them will say idol cheated, etc. but the fact of the matter is, the reason the show works is although you can sense often who deserves to go and does go, you can't predict 100% ever.

04/10 Top 8 on now -- Play by play

(Juan is currently entertaining guests so he'll catch up later...)

So, "Jenny from the block" was not bad in her coaching, at least with getting the top 8 to move and get the beat right. We were commenting at work as to what kind of voice coaching she would give. She liked Sanjaya...ewww.

I liked...
Lakisha's energy. A little surprised that she had to try a bit to get the right beat. Paula's comment for her seemed to come from left field (only because she typically reiterates what Randy says), but I thought Lakisha did step outside of her comfort zone looking back to the practice and did her best to capture a "Latin essence." Cringing during Phil's practice, but I really liked his voice on this awesome song. Liked Blake again...can carry a tune AND perform.

Not crazy about...
Chris, Haley, Jordin. Chris chose an awesome song (wouldn't consider it "Latin" though) and much to live up to (hello, Santana and Rob Thomas), but just didn't cut it. Haley is most definitely going home...bad singing, no boobage dress, SEE YA! I was confused and tired watching her trying to keep up. Even Simon said her singing doesn't work so "wear as little clothes as possible." Ouch! Not enough spirit from Jordin, but still like her. I expected Sanjaya in some flamboyant getup, but instead his attempt at sounding/looking sexy/sultry was lame and creepy.

I only caught the recap of Melinda and was worried when Randy and Simon didn't have much to say about her earlier, but I liked it. I actually paid more attention to her hair - very pretty tonight! And the best overall look thus far -- only mention that cuz fellow fan WLS has some issues with her looks...lol! Overall, the show was not as disastrous as some anticipated, but someone REALLY needs to bring the house down!

- SN

Top 8 Latin Week with J-Lo

Tonight is Latin night with J-Lo. Hopefully a chance for some artists to leave their comfort zone but still shine (I’m looking at you Lakisha and Melinda!), and others to make a move up through the back or fall back. There is also the chance for high comedy, I have seen a list of songs (although without the artists attached to them), and at least ONE person is going with a real high energy song. (If you want to know check the the post after this one.)

Hopefully if nothing else this week brings us a good show! Last week was pretty lackluster…I think the malaise on some of the shows is causing the Sanjaya phenomenon, notice he wasn’t such a big deal in the weeks prior when the talk of the shows was how great the girls was. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

04/03 Results Show

We say goodbye to Gina Glocksen.

A bit of a surprise, but we still have not lost any of the heavy hitters. (In the playoffs they say they don't really start till someone loses a home game. Well, Idol doesn't feel like it's started till we have a heavy hitter in the bottom three.) Haley, Phil and Gina are the three that you would expect in the bottom three (well, unless life was fair in which case it would be Sanjaya, Mr. Malakar, and S. Malakar as our bottom three). I hope Haley and Phil are not very comfortable in LA. They may not be long there....

I think what really hurt Gina was her placement on the show (right after Melinda and Jordin, which really showed her singing shortcomings) and the fact she had no real niche, she was a rocker chick who sang slow songs in a style that wasn't very distinctive.

I like how they are not being vague in the orders, they are giving top three, middle three and bottom three. And i like the top three, if that really was the top three at least we know the singing in the finale would be good! (I still think Blake sneaks in somewhere.)

Hopefully next week brings us some more inspired performances. One of the reasons i think Sanjay garners such attention is no one else has really grabbed the show yet with something off the charts. I'd expect it soon.

Dial Idol predicts Lakisha #2 from bottom...

thus confirming they are useless. They are predicting a lot of people as vulnerable, and Phil Stacey as the #2 vote getter (SURE!) and Lakisha second from the bottom, second to only Gina.

I'd say Phil or Haley is almost a given to be gone...

04/03 Top Nine - On Now

As i sign on Sanjaya has started singing and my baby has started crying. Coincidence? To be honest its not that bad. His voice is just not that strong, it's just a limitation he has. But he's not awful today so I'll leave it at that. (Note: They need to stop introducing him as if he is some separate part to the show. It's not fair to the other people.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVUtA-As8Ng SANJAYA MUST GO VIDEO. Funny...

The first half of the show was really good. I thought Blake was his usual good self, if not spectacular. Chris was really good and seems to have settled in the last few weeks. I feel bad for Phil Stacey. There is just something about him that's a bit off putting. He's not dull, he's almost dark when he sings. It's hard to explain.

Gina did a nice job again although it's about 10 minutes after her performance and I can't remember it to well. Haley is, well as Simon so elequently put it (and Paula less elequently), hasley has great legs. There is nothing special there really. Jordin also really shined. I hope she is around a long time.

As far as Melinda vs. Lakisha goes, I'd have to give this round big to Lakisha although both were great. Melinda is always spot on with her vocals to the point the judges critique is very anticlimatic. Lakisha showed more personality today though, I thought her performance was easily the best of the night. I definitely need that song tomorrow when they release it.

Should be an interesting elimination tommorrow. I'd hate to be Phil....

04/03 Top Nine Idol - American Standards (?) with Tony Bennett

Today’s theme for American Idol is Tony Bennett and SOMETHING. Apparently Idol likes these vague themes (probably because someone picks a song that doesn’t fit the theme almost every time). Before I read American Standards, but I also read “Songs that inspired Tony Bennett” so I guess we will find out today. Hopefully today will be a standout show, with our dueling diva’s dialing it up, Blake and Jordin continuing to shine, and some dark horse emerging.

BTW, it’s amazing that Sanjaya has become this national joke. I love how everyone thinks that every idol vote is a result of some grand conspiracy. Sanjaya is still her because people who like him are voting for him more than some of the other contestants. Anyone who has watched the show before shouldn’t be surprised in the least. (I need to get some of the better Sanjaya parodies up on the blog. I think I’ll work on that later.) No early word on what is hair will be.

I'll be posting during the show. Need to find some interesting Sanjaya clips too... (There's anti Sanjaya sites all over.)

Top 10 Elimination - We lose Chris Sligh (not Sanjaya!)

Let’s say goodbye to Chris Sligh.






Chris turned out not to not have the appeal I thought he would. He never really clicked in the Top 12 round and it was just a matter of time, even if he didn’t make a mess of the song as he did this week. Haley and Phil joined Chris in the bottom three and it wouldn’t be surprising to see either of them go out in the next few weeks. And no Sanjaya wasn’t out. What we need to get rid of him is a quiet week where he doesn’t drum up attention (Mohawk, etc.) and probably it won’t occur for a few more weeks. There’s no conspiracy, not Vote for the Worst impact, it’s the same as every year. There is one young and cute person of varying talent who goes really far – just because they attract fans that want a young teen idol. See John Stevens, Jasmine Trias, Constantine, etc. The good news is they go away eventually.

2 days later the show seemed very forgettable. I thought it’s funny on a Gwen Stefani themed night, Lakisha and Melinda did dueling Donna Summer songs. It’s clear that these two are there to stay, although I think Melinda is the clear front runner. I think Blake may be a bigger threat to her than Lakisha is. He was good again this week if a bit boring. (He was doing 311’s arrangement of Love Song, which is why it was so different.) I thought Jordin was a huge mess with her Gwen Stefani impersonation, and I’m really reassured she was not in the bottom three. Hopefully she can arrive as a darkhorse as well.

The rest for me was the same, Chris R was good but not fantastic (horrible song choice in my opinion, it’s meant for a woman’s voice). Haley was pretty dull, and Phil is always pretty dull. Hopefully people can pull something good out next week, it’s STANDARDS with TONY BENNETT. Usually this makes for an ok show (due to the songs being easy to sing) but it would be nice to see some people pushed further out of their comfort zone.

Juan

Episode 23 - Top Ten Thoughts...

Why Gwen Stefani? I don't get it...

Lakisha and Melinda did dueling Donna Summer songs. I though Melinda was better. Both of them IMO skew really old now. They are also a victim of their own early success, Lakisha already had her Summertime (Fantasia) moment in week 1 of the top 24. I'm sure one of them will come through soon...

Phil was very good this week, probably his best performance. The song choice helped a lot. Chris R sounded like Justin Timberlake singing Gwen Stefani. I'm surprised the judges didn' kill him more, i thought it was just awful. Blake was good but I thought a bit boring, I don't know why he didn't stick closer to the original's tempo.

I though Jordin was awful and looked awful, but the judges did not. I like her so I'm glad, I hope she is around for a long time.

The bottom of the pack really was weak this week. Chris Slight wasn't that bad but nothing special. Haley was overmatched by her song and Sanjaya just sucks, but at least he didn't butcher anything i liked. He seems to have embraced the role of caricature and that's a shame, his original audition was so good! Now he's just awful. What was with the hair? It's a bad joke.

Hopefully tommorrow Sanjaya leaves us but I'm not betting on it....Haley or Chris S seems a safer bet....

juan...

Episode 23 - Top 10 Perform

Tonight’s theme seems to be “Songs from Artists that inspire Gwen Stefani”. Strange I know. It went from Pop Songs (vague!) to 90’s songs to Songs working with Gwen Stefani. I’ve seen the song choices and if they are true, it’s really haphazard, almost like a Top 24 week, for good or bad. Personally Gwen Stefani inspires me to change the channel, but as long as she is not singing it’s all good. To me she is a very strange choice as a guest as she’s such a product now of her producers (post No Doubt) that I doubt she has much to teach. She will be performing on Wed as well.

I got some song spoilers that are in the post below this one. Don't check it if you don't like such things..

This is my first post but I hope I keep up the work started by Soeun below! Check it out. Comments to come later...

juan...

Top Ten Song Choices (SPOILER! CAREFUL!)

Don't want to post here or it's on page, click on comments...