AI 7.6 - Gone Forever

Ah yes. Back in the saddle to find out who is going home to be an idol nevermore. We're going down to half staff tonight. A full 50% of the top 12 will have been dismissed by the end of the evening.

Let's see who it will be, shall we?

I don't know if everyone wants my recap of the whole stupid show... like the idols singing Boyz to Men's One Sweet Day. So I'll just comment on the things I find interesting. Like the fact that Syesha was horribly flat on her little duet bit. ugh

Jason Castro - on the left (whatever that means)
David Cook - on the right
Carly Smithson - on the left
Kristy Lee Cook - on the right

And we take a brief break in the idol segregation to have Eliot Yamin show them all how it's done with the musical stylings of Free. Rabbi Yamin sounds great - but the scarf isn't workin' for me. He's so sweet though... and

Syesha Mercado - on the left
Brook White - on the right

No doubt they're going to make Archuleta choose which group he thinks is the top group and go join it. But first there is the stupid call in part. Bleh.

And now Mariah is singing. I liked her better as a guest judge than a guest performer.

David Archuleta - is safe. Wow didn't see that one coming. But I am surprised... Ryan asks David Cook and Syesha to swap groups.

That makes the two groups:

David Cook
Carly Smithson
Jason Castro

and

Kristy Lee Cook
Brook White
Syesha Mercado

Archie resists Ryan's attempt to make him choose, so instead David Carly and Jason join him at center stage for a minor sit-in. Well, except for Carly who can't sit on the stage for fear of flashing all of America. But I'm very pleased to see that the group that ought to be the top 4 is the top 4 tonight.

Syesha joins them on the sofa leaving Brook and Kristy on the chopping block.

And... finally... it's Kristy going home.

I'm actually surprised that the voters got it right for once. I wish her well, but if she has any hope at all of making it in this industry, she'll need to have some serious face time with Kelly Pickler's coaches and stylists. I'm not even sure that would get her into shape, but it might give her hope.

AI 7.6 - Mariah Carey

Even though I'm not quite back to myself, and my computer is still in recovery, I'm back to blogging on schedule. No sense crying over spilt milk and all like that.

Tonight is Mariah Carey night. I'm not a gigantic fan of Mariah and I don't know a lot of her songs. So tonight might be really nice and refreshing for me since I won't be making a lot of comparisons... or it might be a gigantic train wreck if the contestants try to be Mariah. It remains to be seen so let's get on with it.

David Archuleta
When You Believe
9.5
Big surprise... David is singing a socially conscious/inspirational song. Not a bad choice for him, but I really hope that eventually we hear him break out of this mold and just sing something because it's fun. He does a bang-up job of it though. It's ready for his album and will probably be a top download on iTunes this week. Yay for him. His execution was essentially perfect, but I' marking down slightly for a combination of my own boredom and his tapered leg leather pants.


Carly Smithson
Without You
8
Even those who aren't big fans of Carly should agree that she is looking fairly fabulous tonight. Very classy. This is a song I know pretty well because it's been covered by about a zillion people including Mariah. I like the slight melodic changes she made, but it seems she had a couple of weird rhythm issues. It may be that the brief hiccups in the flow of the song were intentional and part of the arrangement, but I found them distracting. Overall though I thought she sang quite well. This wasn't my most favorite Carly performance, but it was solid.

Syesha Mercado
Vanishing
9
This is a song I don't really know so lucky for Syesha I'm at least one armchair judge who won't be comparing her directly to the original. And for the first time in a long time I think Syesha really did well. It's a song that's big, but with a really mellow accompaniment so she isn't overshadowed by the band. She was a little too bright - almost to the point of screechy - on a couple of the high notes, but I think most people will think this was one of Syesha's best nights.

Brook White
Hero
7
Interesting - guitar in the promo, but piano on the stage. And again, I think she might have bobbled the rhythm just a teeny bit. Not enough that it really disrupted the song, but this is one time I don't think she was helped by being her own accompanist. And it gets worse as she goes on with some more obvious mistakes on the changes. Eek. Not Brook's best night, but thankfully not a complete disaster. The judges think she's a tasty little singer-sandwich, but they agree that it was a less-than-perfect performance.


Kristy Lee Cook
Forever
7
Mariah got goosebumps when Kristy sang. It remains to be seen if there was a good reason for it... or a bad one. I have to admit that that the bottom part of her voice has a nice richness that some of the other girls are lacking. And I think Kristy has finally been getting good advice from her vocal coaches over the last few weeks because this was another step-up performance for her. She's getting better and will probably stick around at least another week based on tonight's show.

David Cook
Always Be My Baby
10
Mariah says his version is really pretty and haunting. I wouldn't know... this is another one that I don't really know. But I like it any way around. I fully expected the big bombastic buildup toward the end, but sometimes predictable is good. And then he ends it on an unresolved note that will leave rocker chicks everywhere swooning. Very cool performance. Quite excellent.

Jason Castro
I Don't Want to Cry
9
Nice opening. World beat type drums and a little vocal thingy by Jason set the stage here. He got a teensy bit pitchy on the low notes, but this may be Jason's strongest performance yet. It's a great style choice for him and probably his strongest overall performance to date. He proved that potentially he's got the chops to really make it. Randy hated it, but tonight he's wrong.


Before I get into who was the best or worst of the night, I just want to say that whoever the stylist was tonight did a highly excellent job with the ladies. They were all stunning. I could have done without Archuleta's leather pants, but I guess you can't win 'em all.

Top of the Heap: There were a number of noteworthy performances tonight with the best-of-the-best being David Cook and David Archuleta.

Bottom of the Barrell: I think it's the ladies who need to be nervous tomorrow night. Nobody was really terrible - not the way some weeks have been - but Kristy, Brook and Carly weren't quite up to the standards set by the other contestants. I'd very muh like to see Kristy finally go home, but I have a deep-seated fear (again) that it may be Carly's swan song. Although, it's always possible that the curse of the song titles could come into play causing Syesha to be Vanishing tomorrow night.

I guess I'll have to wait and see.

AI 7.5 - Shattered Dreams

Obviously I'm late with this post.

I actually watched the Idol Gives Back and results shows last week, but I was too deep within a technological hell of my own making to have any energy to blog about the dearly departed Mr. Michael Johns.

Suffice it to say that while I don't think he was the worst of the performers left in this competition, I never thought he really had a chance to win and I'm not really broken up to see him gone. Others will disagree with me - some violently (perhaps) - but I thought he was nothing better than mediocre with the exception of a few powerful shining moments.

Michael - learn to harvest the sparkle, charisma, and finesse of performances like It's All Wrong But It's All Right and you will prove all the talking heads and blowhards (like me and Simon) completely wrong by having a stellar career that outshines that of many Idol winners. Lose track of that subtlety and grace and you will have proven us right that you're nothing more than a wannabe.

The choice is up to you.

I Am Undone

Imagine if you will -

You have a companion; a confidant; a friend... possibly a best friend. You share everything with this friend. Your thoughts. Your memories. Your hopes. Your dreams. You work together. You play together. You even go on vacations together.

OK - now imagine that this friend that knows you so well - the keeper of all your memories - meets with a tragedy that wipes out there memory completely. Imagine the devastation of staring at someone who stares back blankly as if they have never met you before. It's a fate almost worse than if there had been a tragic death.

That's me. Today. Right now.

My computer doesn't recognize me.

I had problems with the hinge on my laptop which was causing the case to separate along the lefthand side. So I was thrilled to discover the repair would be completely covered by my warranty. Huzzah.

One minor drawback ... the computer gets mailed to a service center far, far away and might be gone for up to two weeks. *sigh* But one does what one must - I got the shipping box and off went my computer to faraway Fremont, California. (Oddly enough, I lived for about 20 years right there in Fremont.)

Anyway, imagine my surprise when I got notice about 5 days after shipping my computer that it was coming back to me already - all fixed up good as new. Huzzah.

I wasn't home when the Fedex truck came by, so I had to go to the local depot and pick up my package, my baby, my friend. But when I get it home and boot it up, I find a stranger staring back at me. For some incomprehensible reason, HP service saw fit to 're-image' my hard drive.

When I said 'good as new' I wasn't kidding.

All my pictures.

All my documents.

Everything gone.

I'm so sad. I want to scream or cry or maybe throw things. I briefly thought I might jump off a bridge. Well... maybe a very short bridge.

So now I'm running a program that might let me recover some or all of my lost files. Perhaps someday soon my old friend will be back.

I'm sure things will never be quite the same. And I suspect that some of those intangibles are gone forever - like the absolute trust a girl has in her computer. And the hair I pulled out when I realized what had happened.

But with any luck things will be back to something resembling normality in a fairly short while.

The moral of the story:

Back up your computer, dummy!!!!!

AI 7.5 - Inspirational Songs

This is Idols Give Back week, so they have everyone singing inspirational songs. They should have called it the David Archuleta week - he always sings inspirational stuff. And with no ado whatsoever, they jump right in.

Michael Johns
Dream On
6
He did a good job last week. And he's kinda ok tonight too. But only ok - I'm so over Mr Johns. He looks so good and sings so mediocre. He just doesn't impress me much.

Syesha Mercado
I Believe
6.5
I want to like Syesha. But like Michael, she is good but not great. Once again, I'm left slightly bored. The performance was OK, barring a really off-pitch high note that all the judges failed to mention.

Jason Castro
Over the Rainbow
8.5
Oh. No. He. Di'in't. Oh yes he did. He sang the ukulele version of this song - one of the dorkiest arrangements of any song ever. In fairness, while I don't love the song (I'm a fan of Judy Garland's original) he did manage to sorta sing the crap out of it. It suited him well.

Kristy Lee Cook
Anyway
9
She chose well. This is a powerful song, but it doesn't take a huge powerful voice to sound really good on it. And this may well be Kristy's best night ever. Girl sang her butt off and is the best of the night so far. Amazing.

David Cook
Innocent
8
I've never heard of this song. It's different. Has some interesting rhythms and stuff. It's a bold choice that none of the other idols could have touched. And David was good, but I didn't love it. I thought it was a little weird.

Carly Smithson
The Show Must Go On
7
Carly sings like a maniac. This was another interesting choice and she has a great voice for it. Unfortunately, she had a few pitch problems that really munged the song for me. And with the fact that she has been in the bottom 3 more than once, I fear that this might be a not-good week for Carly.

David Archuleta
Angels
10
Hey cool - he's at the piano again. I don't know this song either, but it doesn't matter. It's exactly the kind of thing I've come t expect from Archie. He does a great job with it. It's just not fair that a 17-year-old kid can sing like that. He was genuinely excellent and could easily go out and record this song tomorrow.

Brook White
You've Got a Friend
8
It's hard to hear this song by anyone but James Taylor. It was such a signature song for him. But it's a very good choice for Brook. It nicely showcases her particular vocal strengths. It's not her best performance of the season, but it was a lot better than her version of Every Breath You Take.

Top of the heap: No doubt at all tonight. Best singer of the evening was Archuleta. Surprisingly, he was closely followed by (shock. gasp.) Kristy Lee Cook and (slightly less shock. no gasp) Jason Castro.

Bottom of the Barrel: The bottom 3 make me sad because they've all came into this competition with so much potential. Micheal, Syesha and Carly were all just weak tonight. And while I think she was the best of the three, I am afraid it might end up being Carly's turn to go home. She has a great voice, but has consistently failed to connect with the voting audience - even on her best weeks. This wasn't one of her best weeks. I just hope I'm wrong - Carly is in the top three most talented singers in this competition and realy deserves to stay.

AI 7.4 Eliminations - You Will Never Cross My Mind

One more Idol is going home tonight - but not until after a bad production number by the ensemble cast. The only thing that made this really bad version of 9 to 5 even a little bit tolerable is the look on Simon's face when they all came and swarmed the judge's stand. I think he rather enjoyed Carly sitting on his end of the table and wouldn't mind if she just stayed there for the rest of the night.

After the usual recap Ryan starts handing out safe seats on the couch.

Michael Johns is safe.
David Archuleta is safe.
Carly Smithson is safe - but only after some teasing by Ryan.

Time to fast forward past the stupid call-in show.

Then the winners of The Next Great American Band get the chance to perform. I only watched a few episodes of that show, but I was pretty impressed with what the Clark Brothers could do on just a 6-string, steel guitar, and mandolin. I'm not a huge fan of country, but these guys fairly cook on This Little Light of Mine. Cool.

David Cook is safe. Duh.
Ramiele Malubay is the first contestant on the uncomfortable loser stools.
Kristy Lee Cook has a note from her mother saying please let her sit on a stool. Not really, but she gets to sit on one anyway.

Now there's a retrospective on Bucky Covington, Phil Stacey, and Bo Bice, all currently residing and musicing in Nashville.

Syesha Mercado is safe.
Jason Castro is safe.
That leaves Brook White in the bottom three which should not be.

And it's nearly a miracle - Brook gets Simon to apologize for being Simon.

The good news is that Brook never has to go sit on the world's most uncomfortable stool.

They wrap up the non-idol part of the show with an 'Idol Gives Back' video and a performance by Dolly Parton. Dolly is not as on her game as she once was. She looks unhealthy because she's lost so much weight. She was always tiny (most of her was anyway) but now she looks emaciated. But it's interesting to me that for the second time tonight there's a song about Jesus on a show about Idols. Oh the irony. Dolly sounds only kinda fair-to-middling on Jesus and Gravity. What a weird song.

Ryan ends up sending Brook back to the couch first. That leaves just Kristy and Ramiele up for elimination which makes me very happy, but Ramiele is pouting like a two-year-old who wants a lollypop.

And finally!!! it's time to say goodbye to Ramiele Malubay. I think it's a pity that she stayed this long with better singers going home before she did, but I still wish her all the best. She seems like a very nice girl and will probably make a great waitress at her local Denny's. (I know - that wasn't nice. She should just keep her singing to family parties and karaoke from now on. She is not a professional quality singer.)

That's it for tonight - I'll opt for shutting off my Tivo before Ramiele sings her swan song.

AI 7.4 - Dolly Parton

Hello Americans.

I have no April fools jokes for you. I'm not that funny.

What I do have is my own take - such as it is - on Idol hopefuls as they sing songs by a country/pop music legend. Dolly has a bunch of songs that have hit the charts in one way or another. I actually know very few of them though, so it will be interesting to see if they all sound Dollyish to me tonight, or if they sound like themselves. Here's hoping for the latter.

Anyway - off to the races.

Brook White
Jolene
8
I think this song works well for her. I don't know that I'm wild about the song, but it showcases what Brook does well. She had strong vocals. She played her own rhythm guitar and meshed well with the reduced band that joined with her on the stage. And she always comes across with poise and confidence. I liked it.

David Cook
Little Sparrow
9
I'm not familiar with this song, but I very much like it. It reminds me of an obscure version of Wayfaring Stranger that was recorded by a band called Crumbacher in the '80s. He had to stretch for the high notes a few times, coming in just shy of actually hitting some of his high notes. But I don't really think it detracted much from the overall performance. I also like that he isn't just doing the rock bit week after week. He definitely still has a rocker vibe here - nobody will be mistaking him for a country wannabe - but it's not a heavy-handed, straight ahead rock thing. It gives him more options without alienating his fanbase. Nice work if you can get it.

Ramiele Malubay
Do I Ever Cross Your Mind
6
Not bad for karaoke. A few nasty pitch problems, but that's not a problem when you're singing in a smoky bar to a bunch of people who are almost as drunk as you are. I'm not sure this is the performance I would want to do on Idol, but Ramiele does have her fans so who knows what will happen.

Jason Castro
Travellin' Through
7
I have to admit it. I'm starting to lose the Castro glow. He's a decent singer. He can even jam a bit on the six-string. But I don't know that I would ever buy his album. I think he would do really great as a worship leader at a local church. I think eventually his voice will mature and give him more options, but I've reached the point where I'm totally convinced he has no hope of winning and won't mind whenever he ends up going home.

Carly Smithson
Here You Come Again
9.5
Here's a song I know pretty well. And I like they way she changed it - the slow acoustic feel suits the song well. I almost wish she had done a little more with it, but I also think that the simplicity works well - and wow... the big note at the end seals the deal. Best of the night so far.

David Archuleta
Smokey Mountain Memories
9.5
Another song I don't know at all. But in this case I think maybe it helps because I don't have any expectations. I continue to be blown away by Archie's amazing clarity and powerful vocals. I'm presuming at this point that he is going to try to dethrone Josh Grobin as the "popra" king - not exactly what I think of when I'm thinking American Idol. He's decidedly not a pop singer - it's more like adult contemporary or what theatre folks would call "legit". But he's got amazing chops and when he chooses a song that suits him, he sings as well or better than anyone else in this competition.

Kristy Lee Cook
Coat of Many Colors
7
Kristy almost deserves to own this week since the whole theme is right in her genre. And she does OK. Just OK. I don't hate her as much this week as I have recently - that's saying something. But I thought it was a weird song to sing. I also think she looks like she belongs at a luau instead of in the Tennessee hills, but whatever. She may have snuck through one more week with her solid if somewhat uninspiring performance.

Syesha Mercado
I Will Always Love You
7
*Heavy Sigh* - She is singing a Dolly song, but wouldn't you know it... it's also a Whitney song. Why do these girls always think they can manage a Whitney song? I guess it's OK. Not great, but OK. She just doesn't have the huge voice that a song like this demands. Add to that the weird dress which is a pretty color but way too mature look on her, and the hair which almost looks like it belongs at some boring '60s cocktail party... I was pretty underwhelmed by the overall package.

Michael Johns
It's All Wrong But It's All Right
8.5
This was probably Michael's best performance of the season so far. I came into this performance feeling like I was pretty much done with Michael. He hadn't shown me anything I wanted to see in several weeks. But he won me over with powerful vocals, sensitivity, and a heretofore undisplayed falsetto. This was a very nice performance and I think he has easily earned himself another week (or more) of safe seats on the couch tonight.

Top of the Heap: Tonight's big winners are no big surprise. Carly, Archie, and David Cook pwn the competition. Based on overall talent and consistency from week to week (not counting a couple of minor bobbles) I think this will probably be the final three of the whole season.

Bottom of the Barrel: It's a toss-up for me this week. I think Ramiele gave the weakest overall performance, but I found Jason, Kristy and Syesha all about equally bland. Since Ramiele has a proven fanbase, as do Jason and Kristy, it may well be Syesha's turn to go home despite having a very pretty voice and quite a bit of talent. Any way you slice it though, if it's anyone but Ramiele or Kristy who goes home, it's a travesty of music.

AI 7.3 Eliminations - If only it was better...

So here's the deal. I am almost a whole week behind at the moment. And I didn't even get to go to Cancun. So sometimes that's just the way things roll.

Anybody who has been paying attention already knows that Chikezie was our bottom performer and was subsequently sent home. Not a gigantic surprise after having a really terrible week musically, but honestly I don't really think it was about the night's performance.

I think Chikezie's problem was about image. He didn't know who he was and subsequently didn't manage to build and keep a solid fan base to vote him through at all costs. He was far from being the worst singer of this group. But one week he did southern rock, one week he did country, one week he did some schmoozy r&b thing... and if I remember correctly he mostly sang mainstream pop type stuff in the early eliminations. He had no identity so even though he had a lot of potential he ended up without many real, consistent fans.

Bye Chickezie. I hope you do well for yourself - you have talent.

AI 7.3 - The Year They Were Born

I like tonight's theme - it has potential. Choosing songs from the year they were born will mean that everyone should have plenty of options and nobody should be stuck with a really obscure song that doesn't suit them at all. Tonight should be great.

If everyone's smart.

I also want to say, I'm going to be rating a bit tougher as far as my numbers this week. I think I was not tough enough last week in particular and am going to try to be a little more realistic as far as rating the actual talent displayed. No promises that I'll succeed at that, but I plan to try.

Ramiele Malubay
Alone
6.5
Alright, I'll give her this much. She's improving. She's still not my favorite, but this performance wasn't that bad. She was a bit flat in some sections and oversang others, sounding almost shreikishly tuneless on the hook. But she started out strong enough, and actually had a couple of very nice moments. I think her fan base will carry her through to next week. I do want to see her with a bit more commanding stage presence one of these days though. All we've seen so far is awkward wandering, or awkward standing still. Bleh.

Jason Castro
Fragile
7
Brave man to sing a Sting song while I'm listening. He's put a very different groove on it than Sting , so there's no need to really compare them... I'm good with that. And overall? I liked it. Contrary to what the judges have said, I think he did it very different from Sting. I will agree with Simon that the guitar was a bit uninteresting, and the vocals really could have been stronger, but his pitch was good and the performance was ... nice. Not blow-me-away amazing, but nice.

Syesha Mercado
If I Were Your Woman
9.5
I'm not familiar with the song, but for the first time I'm convinced that Syesha could potentially be in the upper eschalon this season. This was probably her best performance of the season. I thought the performance was strong, sensitive, and believable. It's a record I would buy. The last note was a bit off pitch, but other than that she did a very good job.

Chikezie
If Only
6
I'm not sure the Chik chose right. It's a nice song I guess, but his pitch is off and it's kinda dull. He comes off as a second rate crooner to me. I'm not thrilled. I like his jacket though ... the stenciling is cool. The performance is not a home run though. Too bad.

Brooke White
Every Breath You Take
6.5
Ouch! Bad start. She had to start it over after a single clam. Could have been worse, but that's not good. Her voice is so pretty. But I'm sorry, I'm underwhelmed by the performance. Vocally it was ok if just a hair weak on the bridge. But it was sorta like a Police song set to the piano part from Music Box Dancer. Bleh. Boring. Besides, I'm not sure a stalker song is believable when it's 'pretty'.

Michael Johns
We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions
7.5
Hey - Michael is finally steppin' into that whole rock star vibe that he wants so badly to portray. and I really like how he starts it out... But wait. He bails on a really powerful rendition of We Will Rock You in favor of a somewhat crappy version of We Are the Champions. Maybe his problem is that he only has 16 bars of cool on any given night. It doesn't help that one of the backing vocalists was a bit off during the transition to the chorus... or maybe the mix on their mics was just off. Whatever the problem was, it detracted. Also, he is still hurt by not having an upper range. After listening to it again I didn't hate it, but I also didn't love it. Still, it's much better than he's been the last couple of weeks.

Carly Smithson
Total Eclipse of the Heart
8.5
I like this song. I hope she does well with it. And it's good. This was a really solid performance overall. Not perfect - there were a couple of flat notes and maybe she could have done more with it. But still, it was good and she'll still be around next week for sure. Or at least I hope so.

David Archuleta
You're the Voice
9
K - so we're back to singing the socially conscious songs. But that's OK I guess because it's just who he is. He does a good job with it, but I'm surprised to hear him with a couple of off sounding notes. Like so many others tonight, he didn't quite live up to his demonstrated potential from prior weeks. He is one of the best singers on the show this year, but that was not his best performance. Just to clarify... his not best is still better than most performers' wow. So whatever.

Kristy Lee Cook
God Bless the USA
6
One of my most 'not favorite' songs ever. But it's a a very anthemic country type song so maybe it will work for her. But no - she's boring. Her pitch is all over the place. Her timing is bad. And she still has the personality of a hash brown. Or maybe a scrambled egg, no salt. I was just bored to tears. Yuck.

David Cook
Billy Jean
11
Interesting. A completely different arrangement of a classic. Very alt. Very dangerous. I'm not sure he quite found the pocket at the front end. And I started to worry that it was not going to work at all, but once he hit the bridge it was all different. Perfection. Nobody else in this competition could have pulled it off. There aren't a lot of performers anywhere who could have pulled it off. But David is amazing. He wins. Hands down.

Bottom of the barrel.... Well I've gotta say, I think Chikezie was overall the worst performance of the night. I don't know that he'll be going home because I still think he has great potential as a supah-stah - but he didn't wow me tonight. Joining him on the floor will be Kristy and maybe Ramiele or maybe Jason if his fans forget how to dial the phone. Although, if failing to inspire commentary is the kiss of death, it might actually be Carly on the floor again. She has so much potential, but she has to find her wow factor again quickly or she'll get lost in the shuffle. Still, I think this will finally be Kristy's week to finally hit the street. Country roads, take her home.

Top of the heap.... No doubt in my mind at all... David Cook is probably the best Idol contestant of all time. He proved again tonight why he deserves to win the whole kit and caboodle. Also showing up to play this evening were Syesha, Babyface Archuleta, and even Michael Johns. Everyone else has to step it up or get left behind.

ANTM - Painted Ladies

OK - so I still like who I like. I like Whitney. I love Claire. I am rooting for Lauryn. I also still don't like who I don't like. Fatima is annoying. Dominique is domineering - and completely full of herself. And I really hate catfights of any kind for any reason. Somehow I expect some of these girls to be all catty and stupid - I don't like that Whitney lowered herself to that level. I know - it probably comes with the whole model territory, but I vote that they should all decide to grow up and act like human beings for the rest of the show. K?

Training Exercise - Fun... they have a posing workshop with Supermodel Vendela and posing coach Benny Ninja. The girls each have to take a turn posing as Catalog, Commercial, or Couture. Interesting... and I must admit it loses me just a little. I'm not sure I know the difference. Good thing I'm not competing.

Live Event - We again have Benny Ninja and Vendela, and now instead of a posing training session it's a competition. The girls are split into two teams, and they have to pose head-to-head against someone from the other team. Whichever team racks up the most points gets a very cool prize - a visit to a swag tent and lots of free goodies. Cool.

Team 1 - Lauren Dominique, Anya, Aimee, and Fatima.

Team 2 - Stacy Ann, Katarzyna, Claire, Marvita, and Whitney

When the dust clears, Team 2 won the free stuff. Claire was the top of her group and won an extra prize - a trip to Bora Bora.


Photoshoot - Now this one is trippy. They are taking head shots with paint dripping on them. The Photographer is Peter Buckingham. This is a surprisingly tough shoot ... and ended up being surprisingly interesting with the colored makeup and the dripping paint.

I think the best pictures is maybe Claire - even though they criticized her neck.
The worst was, without a doubt, Marvita.
The ewww moment was Fatima's armpit, but that's probably very much a cultural thing. Live and learn Fatima.

Eliminated - I'm not surprised that Marvita is going home tonight. She has a pretty face, but she's completely out of her depth as far as the social aspects of the whole modeling thing. She just doesn't know how to make this whole thing work. I hope she finds some confidence, believes in herself and doesn't just get lost in a dead-end life.

AI 7.2 Eliminations - You're Going to Lose That Girl

Tonight's elimination is a watershed moment for the Idols.... Those who move forward are guaranteed at least a mini-career in the music industry. They will each be a part of the Idol tour this summer.

One will not.

So on to the evening so we can see who is getting left behind.

Wait... it has to wait for another sappy group number. Sorry, but While My Guitar Gently Weeps just doesn't work as an ensemble performance. Bleh. OK. Time to fast forward my Tivo past the schlock....................

Brooke White is ... safe.
Carly Smithson is ... in the bottom 3. YIKES!!!
David Archuleta is ... safe.
Michael Johns is ... safe.

Normally I wouldn't comment much on the blah blah between then actual 3 minutes that I've tuned in to watch, but they showed footage from the Idol Ford video from this week and I actually liked Ramiele's comment. She said, "It's like our day off, only with hair and makeup." I'm annoyed to find that I think anything about her is cute. Harrumph.

David Cook is ... safe.
Kristy Lee Cook is ... in the bottom 3.
Jason Castro is ... safe.
Ramiele Malubay is ... safe.

I refuse to listen to the stupid calls. More Tivo fast forward (we call it 'ba-doop-ing' in our house because of the sound it makes, but you probably didn't care about that).

Guest performing tonight is former Idol contestant and rising star in her own right - Kelly Pickler. She is looking cute and sassy in a floaty red dress and spunky new haircut. I think she maybe got Simon's blood pressure up just a tad bit. Ha.

Syesha Mercado is ... safe.
Chickezie is ... safe. This is no surprise.
Amanda is ... in the bottom 3.

So - it's Amanda, Carly and Kristy are on the bottom. I get it with Kristy. I even get it with Amanda since she's good at what she does but really has only limited appeal. But Carly? She's about as ready to go as any Idol contestant has ever been. Good grief people - vote for people who can sing. Or at least vote for people who will sell a lot of records. Carly should easily slide into the top 4 of this competition - it's just wrong that she's on the floor.

At least they had her go sit down. And while I'm mildly disappointed that Amanda got the boot this early, I'll concede that more than anything she's just not right for this competition. She handled the news with aplomb and grace, and is probably just as happy to go back to her bars where everyone in the house gets her and appreciates the whole southern rock vibe.

So, buh bye Amanda. I wish you all luck. Go cut an album and prove them all wrong. :)

AI 7.2 - Beatles Catalog

For tonight's show they decided to expand on last week's 'Lennon-McCartney Songbook' and go with the Beatles' catalog in general. This makes me happy – I like the Beatles. Then again, I don't love bad covers of the Beatles, so lets hope there's no repeat of Christy Lee Cook or David Archuleta's performances from last week.

Amanda Overmeyer
Back in the USSR
7/10
Hard driving southern rock is promised by Amanda's lead-in video. And she kinda promises. This song is definitely in her roundhouse, but the middle section was all over the place pitch-wise. Overall it was OK, but I'm not blown away. Randy gives her a seven-out-of-ten, and I think I agree.

Christy Lee Cook
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
7/10
OK. I think she has the IQ of a hashbrown. Her interview with Ryan was inane. But I have to say, the song is working OK for her. I don't like the way she changed the melody on the chorus, but the arrangement is contemporary without being dorky. She still needs to work on her stage presence, but she didn't do too bad with it.

David Archuleta
The Long and Winding Road
10/10
This might be better for him – it's more his style than We Can Work it Out which he butchered last week. And he will win back any lost fans with this rendition. He didn't muck about much with the arrangement, he had really outstanding vocals, and some very good embellishments. Once again he found a song that he could record tomorrow and sell a jillion records to his adoring fans. I just wish he hadn't messed up the ending with the 'yeah, yeah, yeah...' at the end.

Michael Johns
A Day in the Life
5.5/10
He read the news today... it said Michael Johns needs better vocal range to make this whole thing work for him. His lack of a falsetto is really starting to work against him. Straining on the high notes isn't going to win him any girlfriends. This performance was only just sota OK. I didn't love it – in fact it was pretty disappointing. That could be the end of the road for Michael. ... But wait – he'll maybe win a few sympathy votes with his dedication to his dead friend, so maybe he will still be with us next week after all.

Brook White
Here Comes the Sun
7.5/10
There's a definite country spin on this one for Brook. I can hear Christy getting jealous back stage. I'm not sure this is her best performance, but it's still solid, on pitch, and entertaining. And I like her dress.

David Cook
Day Tripper
8.5/10
One of only two Davids left in this competition... and also one of two Cooks. I hope he doesn't disappear just for being redundant. But there's nothing redundant about how he performs. He found a White Snake version of the song that's lettin' him rock out as usual. And... big risk... he did the Peter Framptom squawk box thing. It was interesting and generally entertaining, but not his best performance.

Carly Smithson
Blackbird
10/10
A wee bit of a departure for our Irish lass. And there's not much critique to be done here. She's got an amazing voice – perfect clarity. They keep comparing her to Kelly Clarkson, but I think that was slightly reminiscent of Celine Dion. Simon didn't get it, but I thought it was great.

Jason Castro
Michelle
6.5/10
This might be terrible... I don't have the highest of hopes. He's doing better than the nightmare scenario I was imagining, but it's a little boring. There's nothing really to do with the song that could showcase him as a performer. Tonight he showed how truly average he can be.

Syesha Mercado
Yesterday
8.5/10
She looks fabulous. I am unsure about her performance though. It's not bad, but the high key makes it sound a little brittle. She had a couple of nice moments with it but I' not jumping up and down. It was good, but falls short of legendary.

Chickezie
I've Just Seen a Face
8/10
Singing a song that's a little less well-know could have worked against him. It would have if he's been Michael or Christy. But he did something unique that kinda managed to work in spite of itself. As with a couple of others tonight it was merely good and not great, but he'll definitely be around again next week. I have to agree with Simon though – it came across as gimicky.

Ramiele Malubay
I Should Have Known Better
6.5/10
My first thought is that I want to chop off her arm to keep it from flailing around like that. Her singing is ... OK. I can't say it's bad... it's just ordinary. I know there are a lot of people who are in love with this girl, but I'm just not one of them. Based on other performances tonight she deserves to be around for another week.

I'd say that overall this week was mostly mediocre. Even with a couple of great performances, there is nothing that really stands out in my mind as I think back over the show. The Beatles catalog has so many potential power hits, and there really just wasn't much to hang your hat on tonight.

Top of the heap – No question... it's Carly and Archuleta tonight.

Bottom of the Barrel – Jason and Ramiele were not great tonight, but Michael made a really poor song choice and I think it might finally be his death knell.

I just want to take a moment to remind the Idols of what I told them before this whole thing began. You have to pick great songs that work for you. You have to bring your A game every week. You have to stand out. You have to be memorable... not necessarily great, but memorable.

It's high time this pool of talent shows what it can do, or this might end up being the biggest letdown season ever.

AI 7.1 Eliminations - Hello, Goodbye

Here we go. We gots Idols. They be singin' songs like all as a group, yo. Beatles is good junk. Sweet.

Sorry. I just went insane for a moment.

But I will note here that the Lennin-McCartney theme was so popular that the Idols will get another crack at it next week. Cool. For everyone but Archuleta it's cool. Arch needs to start studying his lyrics NOW.

I'm going to cut right to the chase here...

The bottom 3 are:

• Syesha Mercado
• Kristy Lee Cook
• David Hernandez

I have to say that while I'm really not a fan of Ramiele, this list is probably more than fair. Syesha sang OK, but wasn't great. Plus she had the dreaded first slot where it's so easy to forget someone. Kristy actually sang well, but her musical choice was not well suited to the known audience of the show. Plus, she really lacks in stage presence and overall entertainment value. David is plasticman. His singing is not entertaining and his stage presence is artificial and annoying.

I'm very pleased to announce that it's Plasticman going home tonight. I'm beyond thrilled. I'm ecstatic. I'm over the moon. I'm downright giddy.

I will not miss this talent-free Ken doll one iota.

And, when all is said and done, I'm even glad that he was eliminated based on talent, and not on any kind of morals issue. There can be no question now that this was the right elimination.

Now, next to go? I'm hoping Ramiele. Tune in next week to find out.

ANTM - It's a Meat Market

I'm starting to get a sense of the different girls and who I like and who I really dislike a lot. Maybe it's my imagination, but the group overall seems a lot more snarky and irritating than cycle 9. Who knows.

Anyway, I realized as I was watching tonight's episode that I didn't say anything about the training exercises in the previous shows, so I'm adding that info starting now...

Training Exercise - The girls were taken to a fire station to practice their quick changes and runway walks. They had 90 seconds to get changed into a sexy, girly version of fireman duds. Fatima blew it by forgetting the shoes - everyone else did fine. Fatima also blew her walk by stomping just a bit beyond 'fierce' and right on into 'showhorse'. The biggest disaster here was, unsurprisingly, Lauren who is drop-dead gorgeous, but has no idea at all what to do with her body.

Live Event - The models got a chance to put their training into practice by being thrown into another runway situation. They had to quickly don the designer clothes selected for them and make it to the runway in time to go on. There were a few more problems than there were in training. Fatima didn't get her jacket properly buttoned so she looked like a 4-year-old who is just learning how to dress herself. Lauren was a walking disaster again - meaning that her actual walking was a disaster. She's so pretty, but really has to learn how to move. But the most shocking mistake made in the crush of preparation? Whitney's left tata somehow managed to find itself undressed. Oops. Lucky for her she isn't one of the girls with an over-developed sense of modesty. Modesty is a luxury that models really don't get to entertain much.

Katarzyna was fabulous and won the weekly prize fair and square.

Photoshoot - This one is just plain icky.... Meat panties. Meat sweater. Meat halter top. Meat belt. All the girls are wearing meat. I hope nobody is a vegetarian. Aside from the creepy, meat-locker setting, something else is different here. Some of the girls who totally rock on the catwalk, are awkward and uncomfortable in front of the camera. I liked Lauren. I liked Whitney. I liked Dominique. Aimee was terrible. Amis was even worse.

Here's the thing, I know that the kind of woman who has the goods to be a model is, by definition, someone who thinks they are all that and a bag of chips. But wow - do they all have to be such incredible beotches? I want to slap Fatima and Dominique - probably two of the most exotic and interesting looking girls in the house. Aimee and Amis are both just completely uninteresting, but obnoxious.

The best girls overall are those who you don't want to strangle, and who have the looks and the skills to represent themselves well both on the runway and on film. I think that puts Katarzyna, Claire and Whitney at the top of the heap. Anya and Stacy Ann are probably not far behind, but both kind of get lost because they don't have a lot of personality. Too many of the girls will either be annoying and impossible to work with, or jave so much to learn they might not get there in time to win this particular contest.

So who would I like to see go? Probably Aimee or Amis.

Eliminated: Amis. No surprises.

How Many 5-Year-Olds?

This just seems so wrong somehow.

So tell me... how many could you take on?

13

AI 7.1 - Lennon-McCartney Songbook

It's a brand new Idol stage and a brand new Idol intro. A fitting setting for a brand new crop of Idol hopefuls to display their wares. Everything in the theatre is all fancy-schmancy. The band under the tutelage of Ricky is rarin' to go, and Ryan is a metro as ever. So let's get on with the show.

I'm looking forward to hearing some of the best songs ever in tonight's theme: Lennon-McCartney Songbook.

Syesha Mercado
"Got to Get You Into My Life"
8/10
She was a little flat on the opening phrase, but managed to find her center not too far into the song. I'm not sure I'm in love with the disco take on this, but her performance was decent overall. She could have used more of this new, giant stage, but she had some nice moments in this and I suspect she'll be safe this week.

Chikezie
"She's A Woman"
10/10
Wow. It's a bluegrass version... a very brave choice. But wait, it becomes a hard rock/rockabilly thing after the first pass. An interesting choice. And, lucky for Chik, it totally worked. He's got a great vocal going, great stage presence, and it was overall completely entertaining. I'm a fan.

Ramiele "Jasmine Trias" Malubay
"In My Life"
5.5/10
Before she even starts I'm sure I'll hate it. Maybe that's not fair, but you can't escape your history. And, what a shock, I'm right. She's got lousy pitch. She's got really awful phrasing problems and no support. It's a dippy, sappy arrangement. She might play well at the retirement village or in an amusement park retrospective. Towards the end she had a couple of really nice moments, but "blah" is the best I have to say for Ramiele.

Jason Castro
"If I Fell"
6.5/10
I really like Jason in general, but I'm not sure he did himself any huge favors with this arrangement. It was enough like the original to be poorly compared to it, but different enough to make me wonder what on earth he was thinking. I just didn't love it. The guitar playing was boring. He needed to either take a big risk with the song or be really classic. Instead he was just plain forgettable.

Carly Smithson
"Come Together"
10/10
Carly is probably both the prettiest and most talented of the girls. I love this chick! Her performance was flawless. She really strikes me as being the 'real deal'. I'm ready to run out and buy her album. Awesome job.

David Cook
"Eleanor Rigby"
9.5/10
I love the groove. It's a totally unexpected alt-rock kind of thing. He had a couple of minor pitch problems, but nothing that really affected the overall sense of the song. This is the third performance of the night that's ready to go straight to the studio. Really great.

Brook White
"Let It Be"
9/10
Nice Piano Playing. And I am consistently impressed with her simple but powerful vocals. She's got a country flavor without being a caricature, which is a very good thing. This didn't quite blow me away like a couple fo the other performers tonight, but it was a very strong performance that would make a very listenable recording.

David "Plasticman" Hernandez
"I Saw her Standing There"
5/10
The arrangement is boring. The vocal is mediocre at best. His stage presence is as overly-rehearsed as ever. I just don't find anything likable about him at all. He's smarmy. Actually, I really like Simon's assessment... "corny verging on desperate." I think that's sums it up perfectly.

Amanda "Overdrive" Overmeyer
"You Can't Do That"
8.5/10
Funky pants, babe. I don't like the hair though - it makes you look too young. Here's the thing about Amanda - she does what she does very well. Musically, she isn't trying to be anything she isn't. I know not everyone is in love with her, but for what it is it really works for her. I liked her performance a lot, but I'll admit it's starting to look a little like the same thing every week. I'd love to see some more depth from her, but I also worry that trying to do anything different would make her suck.

Michael Johns
"Across the Universe"
7/10
He's just a solid, straight-ahead singer. Unfortunately for him, that means he doesn't stand out in the crowd this season. Any other year he would have been one of the best. Against this year's group he's just OK. I think he needs to kick it up a notch or he'll be going home sooner rather than later.

Kristy Lee Cook
"Eight Days a Week"
6/10
Not a good start when you're behind the beat. But once she caught up to that country back beat she did OK. Her biggest problem now is a complete lack of stage presence. Singing a unique arrangement badly just doesn't work.

David "Babyface" Archuleta
"We Can Work It Out"
4.5/10
I don't love the groove to the exact extent that I loved David Cook's groove earlier. And, OH CRAP! he forgot the words. Twice. This is the first time he has been really, completely, totally, and in all possible ways, terrible. He almost saved it toward the end with some energy and a couple of interesting runs, but overall this was not a good night for the young'un.

Top Of the Heap: Chikezie and Carly are in a near dead-heat tonight. Both had great breakout performances. David Cook was cooking, but a few pitch issues keep him from joining the top podium this evening.

Pack Your Bags: While Archuleta was surprizingly the weakest overall performance of the night, I think he gets a pass based on his history. For me, the two who should really be most worried are Plasticman Hernandez and JasmineTriasIMeanRamiele. My fear tonight is that both David Hernandez and Ramiele Mal(meaning 'bad')ubay have a fairly deep fanbase to draw on in addition to possible help from Vote For the Worst. It's possible that the solid but forgettable performances from Michael or Syesha won't be enough to garner the votes needed to beat the true riff raff. They need to say their prayers or start shopping for airline tickets. At this point in the competition being unremarkable is possibly a bigger sin than being truly bad.

ANTM - Playing Catchup

OK - I finally got around to watching my recordings of America's Next Top Model, Cycle 10. Here are my thoughts on the first couple of episodes.

Week 1 - Homeless

Something happened and my comments on this episode disappeared - here are the bare bones.

Live event - a surprise runway show in Times Square.

Photo Shoot - a shoot with several girls from a NYC homeless support agency acting as extras.

Eliminated - Atalya
Quit - Kimberly

Week 2 - Top Model Makeovers

This is the week that all the girls get a new look - one that could potentially carry them into a new life.

Live event - casting/makeup challenge at WalMart. The girls have 5 minutes to make themselves up with Cover Girl products. Claire won the challenge, and was rewarded with a photo on the WalMart.com alleged Covergirl page. There doesn't seem to actually be any such page, but Claire must be on it. Wherever it is.

Then on to the makeovers.
Anya - platinum blond
Whitney - blonder and with a weave
Aimee - a weave, bangs and a red wash
Marvita - a horse-mane weave
Lauren - long blond weave with reddish highlights
Katarzyna - dark luxurious hair
Claire - pale blond and extremely short
Fatima - dark brown, weave, and straightening ... and this season's winner as most annoying reaction to a makeover
Allison - medium brown with a weave to fill it out
Dominique - short and sassy
Stacy-Ann - spikey and wild
Amis - A long blond weave

Photo Shoot - a nyc river ferry with Elle McPherson's lingerie line. How overwhelmingly intimidating!

Claire is becoming one of my favorites, especially with the makeover. I also like Whitney, and I still hope Lauren grows into her looks.
Allison is probably my least favorite of the girls - she is arrogant, but without the goods to back it up.

Eliminated - Allison ... and good riddance. Blech.

Tainted Forever

Ladies and gentlemen... we have idols.

Generally speaking I think the choices were good even though I disagree vehemently with one of them.

The four eliminated singers tonight were:

Kady Malloy
Luke Menard
Asia'h Epperson and
Danny Noriega

You may recall that I actually made the call on Kady and Luke. Yay me. I didn't make the call on Danny only because I thought he had a following. I must say, I'm thrilled to have been wrong on that one - I think Michael really deserved to stay. Where I'm not so thrilled is with Asia'h going home. I thought she was very good. While I knew that eventually Asia'h and Syesha would be splitting the Whitney-wannabe lovers' vote, I didn't think it would go to Syesha, and I didn't think it would be so soon. It's a disappointment.

Who really should have gone from the girls' side tonight was the cute but talentless Ramiele. I'm sure she will disappear within a few weeks. At least we can hope so. But in the mean while, America, here is your top twelve....

David Cook
David Archuleta
Jason Castro
Brook White
Syesha Mercado
David Hernandez
Michael Johns
Ramiele Malubay
Carly Smithson
Amanda Overmeyer
Kristy Lee Cook and
Chikezie

Next week we start the real competition on a bigger stage with a bigger audience. I wish all the idols good luck - which some will need more than others. For those who don't need the luck because they're just that good, I hope you make the right song choices and remember to drink your tea with honey and lemon.

Celebrate gently, get some rest, and we'll see you all next Tuesday night.

American Idol 7 - Girls3

It's both ladies' night and '80s night on the Idol stage. Lets see if the girls can compete with what the guys did last night.

Asia'h Epperson
"I Want to Dance With Somebody"
Nice job on the song. She had a nice clean vocal and decent stage presence. Asia'h is probably in the top two or three of the girls overall. My one issue with tonight's performance is that the song strikes me as a hair dated since she didn't do anything with the arrangement. It could have been a teeny bit better, but overall this was quite good.

Kady Malloy
"We Can Have Forever"
It was OK I guess. She has nice tone, but I couldn't understand the words. She has the potential to be really good, but she hasn't arrived yet. Her performance was fairly bland and forgettable overall - nothing about it really popped for me. If she's still here next week she'll really need to crank things up a bit or she will go home sooner rather than later.

Amanda Overmeyer
"I Hate Myself for Loving You"
Amanda was more engaging and interesting tonight that she was either of the last two weeks. The vocal was solid. She's back to being a real rocker chick with normal rocker chick hair. I know there are people who don't like her, but I think she's a very good performer. She isn't going to win the big prize, but she'll definitely be around next week.

Carly Smithson
"I Drove All Night"
Carly has a great voice. There's a lot of power to her singing. She looks great. She's fun to watch. But, girl, what were you thinking with those pants? They made her look fat. And Carly ain't fat. I like Carly a lot, but I want the pants to get voted off. Seriously though, Carly (along with Asia'h) is probably one of the top girls this year - maybe the best. She'll be around for many weeks yet.

Kristy Lee Cook
"Faithful"
I like Kristy. I think she started this song out great. But then the nerves started creeping in and her voice started to shake. Eventually it really killed her support and her pitch so she completely blew the big note at the end. I liked the country flavor she gave this song, but she can't let the nerves get to her like they did tonight.

Ramiele Malubay
"Against All Odds"
If this was season one or two, Ramiele might have a chance. It's not. She doesn't. She has an ok voice, but there are pitch problems and a complete lack of vocal power. I think Ramiele staying around for the top twelve goes against all odds.

Brook White
"Love is a Battlefield"
Two kinds of singers can do acoustic arrangements like this. Those who have smaller, quirky, folk-music-type voices (like Jason Castro), and those who can really deliver the goods in a pinch. Brook proved tonight that she has the goods. This ws by far my favorite performance from her yet.

Syesha Mercado
"Saving All My Love for You"
I do like Syesha, but I fear she has a problem - this song is just too big for her voice. I think she's good, but just not good enough. The song got away from her. She'll be back next week, but she really has no chance. She's cannon fodder, not a contestant in the running for the prize.

Top Honors: I think Asia'h and Carly killed tonight. Great job! Brook and Amanda were not far behind.

Pack Your Bags: I think we've found the end of the road for Ramiele and probably Kady. Kristy also should have been better, but she's the only one doing country so she probably has a fairly strong built in fan base in her genre.

I will say this, the girls overall aren't anywhere near the level of the guys. There are a couple that will do very well, but I think it's a guy's year to take home the big prize. But don't be surprised when a couple of the very niche-oriented girls (Amanda) get great offers after they 'lose' on Idol. A bunch of folks who don't hit the top two or three will still be pressing records in the next year or so. Mark my words....

American Idol 7 - Boys3

It's eighties night on the Idol stage, and we're at the last 'double elimination' night for the guys. Two of the eight remaining dudes will be heading home in just a couple of days. Let's find out who it should be....

Luke Menard
"Wake Me Up Before You Go Go"
This was not great. His pitch was mostly OK. He had nice pure tone on the high note. But other than that I found the whole performance deadly dull. There was no power and very little energy. Luke was definitely not "McSteamy" tonight. Randy's right - this was all just a little too corny.

David Archuleta
"Another Day in Paradise"
Great song choice for David. I liked his piano playing. He was surprising a little pitchy - but I think it was a lack of support for singing while he was sitting down. He'll need to work on that. Overall I think this was a very solid performance, but not as good as last week.

Danny Noriega
"Tainted Love"
Great song. Horrible singing. I hated the arrangement/interpretation. He had terrible stage presence. I think Danny has jumped the shark - he's getting ready to self destruct. Time for him to decide whether he wants to spend his career at Burger King or Wendy's. Vote for the Worst will love him tonight.

David Hernandez
"It's All Coming Back to Me Now"
David has a nice voice. The song started out very good, but got a little overblown later on. His biggest performing problem though is that he over-emotes. Much like Constantine from a couple seasons ago, he has way too many facial expressions. It makes him slightly cartoonish and weird.

Michael Johns
"Don't You Forget About Me"
He had a few minor pitch problems, but overall he's got a nice voice and some good power within his vocal range. His problem comes that his range is really too small to carry a song like this. Without a falsetto to draw on it really limits what he can do well. This particular performance was good but not fabulous.

David Cook
"Hello"
Completely different take on the classic Lionel Ritchie song. And it totally worked. I was a tiny bit concerned when he started because the opening phrase was funky on pitch, but he firmed it up quickly. This was the first really unique and entertaining performance of the night. Great job here.

Jason Castro
"Halleluja"
This was an overall very nice performance with the simple acoustic guitar backing. He had one bad vocal crack at the end, but I really don't think it killed him - especially since he acknowledged it with that crooked smile even as it happened. Jason is just plain likeable. He doesn't have the best voice in the bunch, but I think he stands out as unique because of it. He should definitely still be around for the top 12.

Chikezie
"She Fills Me Up"
This was by far the best performance he's had so far. Nice key change. Beautiful falsetto. Strong vocal overall. He's in the top 3 tonight as far as I'm concerned.


Tonight marks the first night I think the singers lived up to the hype. After a couple of weeks of good-but-not-great performances from most of the contestants, tonight showed that there really is quite a lot of talent in this group of guys. We might well be looking at an all male top 2 - or even top 3. Seriously.

Top Honors: Great week for those who were great. David Cook, David Archuleta, and Chikezie win top marks from me with a virtual dead heat. All three gave outstanding performances that prove they are worthy of the label Idol.

Pack Your Bags: This is a tough call for me tonight. There are a lot of factors to consider. I think it's obvious that Luke Menard has probably sung his last. But who will join him is the question. Hernandez might either be helped or hurt by the controversy that sprang up earlier today. Noriega's performance was truly abysmal. But I think who will probably be singing the swan song on Thursday is Aussie Michael Johns. He has a couple of problems that work against him - he's just OK overall, not fabu but not horrendous; he doesn't have an very distinctive voice despite the accent; and he's solidly in the middle of the pack as far as talent. But the factor that puts the nail in his coffin for me this week is the song he chose.... he sang a goodbye song which is so often the kiss of death on Idol. So, for poor song choice, I think we'll be waving buh-bye to Michael. And I think we will have forgotten him by next week.

Anyway - them's my picks.

American Idol - The Hottie was Naughty

American Idol may have a new problem on their hands. It seems that David Hernandez, the attractive young man who last week claimed that his Papa was a Rolling Stone, was rolling just a little himself in his not-too-distant past.

Sorry ladies, but it seems that David worked for three years as a male stripper at a club catering primarily to gay men.

Check out the news story here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080304/ap_on_en_tv/idol_stripper_2

While the revelation that he may be gay should not be a factor in whether he is qualified to compete, the fact that he worked in the sex industry should be. In 2003 Idol hopeful Frenchie Davis - one of the best singers in that year's competition - was removed from the competition after it was revealed that she had appeared on an adult web site. Performing in a live, nude show - up close and personal with the paying customers - is an even more egregious violation of the Idol trust.

And lest people start their next sentence with, "but Antonella...," remember that Antonella Barba had someone post private pictures of her. She did not authorize their release, nor did she ever get paid for those pictures. By extrapolation, it was not the morality of posing for racy pictures that was the problem for Frenchie - it was the selling of those images.

The bottom line is this - David Hernandez is a good singer. But he should not be considered an American Idol.

Hopeless Devotion

It wasn't exactly what I'd predicted, but it was close. I am not shocked. I am not surprised. And despite my personal choices of who should hit the road, I think the right people probably went home.

Going packing tonight are:

Jason Yeager
Robbie Carrico
Alexandrea Lushington
and
Alaina Whitaker

Justice is served.

American Idol 7 - Girls2

I didn't get this posted last night, but here are my thoughts while watching the show.

It's lady's night and the girls are stuck in the '70s. There are potentially some great songs to be sung and I'm hoping to see some breakout performances.

Carly Smithson
"Crazy On You"
She can sing. She's very cute. She's got a great voice. The performance wasn't perfect, but she did a good job. I liked it.

Syesha Mercado
"Mr. Jones"
Her voice is so smooth - I love it! I like Syesha a lot, but I have to agree with the judges that the softer sections of the song were not always right on pitch. I don't know that it really detracted from the overall performance, but she needs to learn to support even when she's not powering through something.

Brook White
"You're So Vain"
Great song choice for her. I think she perfectly fits that 'singer-songwriter' mold. She hit a couple of funky notes, but nothing really bad. This is one of those songs that doesn't have any giant vocal passages and that gives it the sense of being a little lower energy. But overall it suited Brook very well.

Ramiele Malubay
"Don't Leave Me this Way"
I'm underwhelmed for the first time tonight. This is not a good 'vocalist' song. She did nothing interesting with it. It was flat and boring and off pitch. Jasmine Trias, go home.

Kristy Lee Cook
"You're No Good"
Hmmm... my first impression is that the walk and stance and her whole stage presence is to calculated - almost choreographed. Not natural. My second thought is that it was all a little draggy - she took it a hair slower than the original and it suffered for it. When I closed my eyes the vocal was very strong, but the overall performance was weird. I didn't like it even though it wasn't really bad.

Amanda Overmeyer
"Carry On My Wayward Son"
I think she might be sick, but it's hard to tell. Her pitch is awful tonight, and she seems to have some hoarseness in addition to her usual husky voice. Her stage presence and presentation were fine, but the vocal performance was really not good. And her hair is ridiculous.

Alaina Whitaker
"Hopelessly Devoted To You"
She is a pretty girl with a pretty voice. That's not going to be enough to get her through this competition. Her pitch was all over the place. She had no vocal control. She wasn't as bad as some of the top contestants were in previous seasons, but she was no American Idol.

Alexandrea Lushington
"If You Leave Me Now"
Poor wardrobe choice. Mediocre vocal. Dull performance overall. I think Alex may have reached the end of her road - though the judges seem to like her. Go figure.

Kady Malloy
"Magic Man"
I like her voice. I like her look. But the song was just a little weak. In her defense, I had the impression that the mix was off and she didn't have enough gain compared to the band. But that doesn't change the fact that she just didn't exude much stage presence. It was all rather so what.

Asia'h Epperson
"All By Myself"
Another very pretty girl. And I think she has some serious talent. But this was not a good song choice for her. Her voice dropped out on the first high note because she forgot to compensate for her break. Later high parts were there, but sounded strained because she powered into them in chest voice instead of using a blended or head voice. I just don't think this performance was very good at all.

Top Honors: Syesha I think is the clear winner tonight, followed by Carly.

Pack Your Bags: I think Ramiele needs to go. And, sadly, I think Amanda might need to join her. I really like Amanda, but while her voice is interesting and unique, I think it's also just too much of the same. She needs to build a band and go start playing bars and clubs. She will not win this competition and after this performance the gig might be up for her. If it isn't Amanda though (and it might not be since she's unique and the only rocker chick), It will either be Alexandrea or Alaina who joins Ramiele in departure.


Overall, one thing is clear. All the girls need to step it up a serious notch if they want to compete with the guys. I did not see any of the breakout performances I hoped for at the beginning of the evening.

There are probably 3 or 4 guys who got it seriously goin' on (at least once they find their niche). None of the girls has the charisma to match someone like a Chikezie. None of the girls has the pipes that Archuleta has. There are a couple of girls I like, but none that really stand out and make me think I absolutely want their album no matter what they end up recording. That's a problem for the girls. I think this season is going to a guy - and probably a guy in second place as well.

Oopsie...

Tea is nice. Especially when you have a miserable chest cold. But last night as I was staring blankly at my box of tea while waiting for my cold-abating-tea water to boil, I noticed something odd. See if you can spot the discrepancy. (hint: this is Mandarin Orange flavored tea)

MoBlog

This blog can now be mobile too. Don't know how much I'll exploit the technology, but it's nice to know it's there if I want it.

American Idol 7 - Boys2

70's night

It seems weird to me that we're already into theme nights when we aren't down to the top 12 yet. Did they do that last year? I don't remember. Anyway... gotta love the '70s. And on to the show....

Michael Johns
"You Can Go Your Own Way"
He's cute. He has a nice voice. But his pitch is all over the place. He's sharp and oversinging on the chorus. The overall performance is okay, but he has to improve quickly or he won't be around to get over the oversinging.

Jason Castro
"I just Want to Be Your Everything"
I really like Jason. He's cute and genuinely bashful without letting it make him freeze up on stage. However, the whole brittle, unsupported voice thing has to go. He needs to learn to use his voice more effectively. Right now he has pitch problems and vocal dropouts. Also, I'm not sure he knows how to sing with the band - when he was alone with guitar everything sounded OK, but once the band kicked in he was kinda all over the place. I completely agree with Randy and Paula on this one - he needs to get rid of the guitar, take some ownership, and step up. If not, he'll be gone soon.

Luke Menard
"Killer Queen"
Can I call him McSteamy? He rather reminds me of the charming cad of a plastic surgeon from Gray's Anatomy. Whatever. I thought it was an interesting song choice. Not necessarily good, but interesting. He sang well, but I wonder if he might lose some target audience with the song. I think I mostly agree with Simon - the song is almost too stylized and unique to work as a cover. I'm not sure Luke is a big enough personality to pull it off.

Robbie Carrico
"Hot Blooded"
Robbie's problem? He's no Bo Bice. I like him, but the performance was good, not great. The vocal needed to be "dirtier" (not the performance - just the vocal. Get your mind out of the gutter...). His singing is almost too pretty. Too controlled. I think he said it best himself: every week you have to up the ante. Well, it's time for Robbie to up the ante.

Danny Noriega
"Superstar"
Don't you remember when this song was owned by Ruben? It still is. This was boring and the performance was a little sickening. In fairness, Danny has a decent voice. He just needs to quit the attitude. It's not appealing.

David Hernandez
"Papa Was a Rolling Stone"
Not bad. He has a very good voice and did pretty well. I don't know if I believe him on the song - the lyric doesn't exactly fit his clean-cut look. But overall it sounded good.

Jason Yeager
"Without Love"
Hey Jason - the Osmonds called. They want their look back. *shudder* And he's so karaoke. It's all a bit goofy. His voice isn't horrible, but he's more like a creepy lounge singer than a mainstream pop superstar. I think Jason's 15 minutes are up.

Chikezie
"I Believe"
H needs to put some thought into wardrobe. Last week he had the orange suit. This week he looks like a college student or a mall rat. I'm not against the casual look - but he needs to use his look to help define who he is. I don't think a powder blue polo shirt helped. But, the vocal was so much better than last week. He's definitely coming back again. Overall, good job.

David Cook
"All Right Now"
Guitarring it - as a lefty. Interesting. Decent song. Good vocal. But I just don't know if he stands out much. I like him, but I don't like him enough to think he's going to win this thing.

David Archuleta
"Imagine"
A completely different take on this song. This was a great choice for him, and a great arrangement. Not too much like the original that you find yourself making comparisons. I like that it was just David and acoustic guitar. And you know what? It was amazing! I think David looks like the one to beat this year. He is absolutely fantastic.

Top Honors: Definitely David. The kid is professional, interesting, has great pitch, a unique vocal quality, looks good, and is just appealing.

Pack Your Bags: I think Jason Osmond-Yeager is definitely toast this week. I'm not sure on who else... I'd love for Danny to go but he won't. It might be shy Jason Castro. I hate to say that, but it might be. Or it might be Michael Johns who just wasn't on tonight. And I'm also thinking that Robbie or David Cook might need to start worrying about how the voting public perceives them. Simon isn't wrong.


That's it for tonight. I'm looking forward to what the girls are going to do - lots of great chick songs from the '70s.

Tyra's Domain

OK - so I finally had the chance to watch my tape (yes, actual VHS video tape - egads) of America's Next Top Model.

I became accidentally addicted to the show last season and knew I would watch it this season if I had the chance. Through the wonders of ancient technology, I've managed it. Yay.

Anyway, I'm not going to give a whole rundown of the show here. I just thought I'd make a few observations, so here goes.

• What on earth was Tyra thinking with the whole 'prom queen' getup. I know she was being silly, but really, what was the point?
• Something about Miss J makes him/her very entertaining - I just have no idea what it is.
• The whole school uniform thing is a little creepy. I have never much liked the idea of sexualizing the schoolgirl. It strikes me as being a little on the 'dirty old man' end of the spectrum.
• I like Lauren. She's quirky and different. I don't know if she's really 'Top Model' material, but I hope she at least gets a good shot at it.
• So many of these girls remind me of every pretty girl I've ever met (pardon the exaggeration). What about being attractive turns girls into mean little b*tches who don't know how to play nice?
• Anya's 'fire in the eyes' looks more like nausea to me.
• Part of being uber-hot is knowing how to walk in high heels. Half these girls look more like ten dollar hookers in their heels than like runway models. Learn how to walk, ladies.
• Atalya reminds me of Ebony from Cycle 9
• I don't like Shaya Marie Ali at all.
  
• The strawberry blonde - I think her name is Marguerite - is scary... like a stalker.
• Dominique is too aggressive. I guess you don't have to be likable to be a model, but you can't have too sharp an edge either or everyone will hate you.
• Kristen is really cute - maybe too cute to be believable as a top model
• I really like Katarzyna - she might end up being the one to beat with those legs that go on forever and a pretty face too.
• Shalynda has auditioned 8 times. I don't like her - she seems very shrill to me.
• Did I mention that I like Lauren? She needs to learn to be comfortable in her own skin and she needs to learn how to walk.
• Stacy is cute, but stupid
• I don't like Aimee - she's trying too hard.
• Kimm is vapid. She can go.
• Fatima might end up as the emotional favorite like Heather did last year - but she might also be accused of emotional manipulation. She needs to be careful. Also, she needs to not stomp so hard when she walks. Fierce is one thing, being Attila the Hun is something else.
• Marvita is aggressive and snotty.
• Claire committed the classic overshare. Telling the world you drank your own breast milk is simply TMI.

My favorites from the mash of information they pack into the first show are Atalya, Fatima, Jennifer, Katarzyna, Kristen, and Lauren.

The 14 going forward into the actual competition are

• Allison
• Fatima
• Katarzyna
• Kimm
• Stacy-Ann
• Aimee
• Amy
• Claire
• Whitney
• Marvita
• Lauren
• Atalya
• Anya
• Dominique

I wonder if there will be anyone as interesting this cycle as Heather and Salecia were last cycle. It remains to be seen.

Breaking up is sometimes sweet

Wow. They pulled no punches. They got right to the good stuff.

Following a big production number starring all the idols, they played a brief recap of the performances from the guys two nights ago. Then Ryan calls Garrett out for a brief discussion... at which he informs Garrett that it's all over. Yup. Just like that. No prevaricating. No equivocating. No, "right after this message from our sponsors."

It was almost brutal.

But it was exactly the right thing to do. Like pulling off the bandaid quickly, the pain is minimized by a quick finish. Unfortunately, we then got 'treated' to a reprise of Garrett singing Breaking Up is Hard to Do. It was even worse than last night, so there's no doubting that this was the right vote.

Thank you America.

The other Idols eliminated one after another tonight are:

Amy Davis - Where the Boys Are
Joanne Borgella - I Say a Little Prayer for You and
Colton Berry - Suspicious Minds

I think they probably got 3 out of 4 perfect tonight with Colton being the only one I thought might have stayed around a little longer. I'm not sure he would have made it to the merge, so overall I'd say it's all good.

Anything else of note tonight? Not really. They showed a video that Paula did for Randy's album... *shrug*



Anyway. So that's all there is. I'll be back next week with more Idol blah blah.

Almost an Idol

For those who wonder what became of brilliant Idol also-ran Josiah Leming, you can read a recent interview with him here. Sounds like he's doing OK after the initial shock of his Hollywood Week disaster.

You can hear - and purchase - some of his music on his MySpace page.

American Idol 7 - Girls1

Last night the top 12 guys performed. Tonight the girls had their chance. Let's see how they did, shall we?

KRISTY LEE COOK
"Rescue Me"
Kristy is cute and a bit Carrie Underwood-y, but without the breakout talent that Carrie displayed. The performance was just ok, and - like David Hernandez last night - she will suffer from 'going first' syndrome.

JOANNE BORGELLA
"I Say a Little Prayer"
Again, this is just a very average performance. I'm disappointed. I think Joanne has potential to be very good, but she didn't show it tonight. And I'm surprised that nerves seem to have been a factor - she didn't strike me as one who would let nerves get to her.

ALAINA WHITAKER
"More Today Than Yesterday"
Things are starting to look a little brighter. This was a much better and more interesting performance than Chikezie's version from last night. And overall it sounded OK - but still it needs to be stronger quickly.

AMANDA OVERMYER
"Baby Please Don't Go"
For being a recording industry executive, Simon really doesn't seem to know much music. It's surprising. Anyway, I think Amanda is totally fab, and I think she wailed on this one tonight. Her biggest hurdle is going to be trying to keep things fresh and interesting for the next 15 weeks because there's only so much you can do to sound different when you have such a distinctive voice. I'm sure she's already praying that there will be no Manilow week.

AMY DAVIS
"Where the Boys Are"
I have nothing to say except that this was really bad.

BROOKE WHITE
"Happy Together"
I like Brooke a lot. I thought she did a very good job on this song and it suits her folksy kind of sound. That folksy sound could get irritating in weeks to come - like Amanda she will need to stretch outside her core sound - but so far it suits.

ALEXANDREA LUSHINGTON
"Spinning Wheel"
Girl's got a powerful singing voice. I liked this a lot. Her potential downfall is the fact that she will be competing for votes with Asia'h and Syesha. They are all very good, but at some point I predict that it will be a problem for at least one of them.

KADY MALLOY
"A Goovy Kind of Love"
Meh. Kady has some skills. She didn't show them tonight.

ASIA'H EPPERSON
"Piece of My Heart"
Asia'h is one of my favorites this year and I think she was amazing on this song. Great choice. Entertaining performance. Strong vocals. Yay.

RAMIELE MALUBAY
"You Don't Have To Say You Love Me"
Simon is an idiot. I'm completely underwhelmed by Ramiele, by this song choice, and by her singing overall. She may well end up as this year's Jasmine Trias. Ugh.

SYESHA MERCADO
"Tobacco Road"
I liked this. I think Syesha did very well, but for my money I like Asia'h better (even though her name has a ridiculous apostrophe in the middle for no apparent reason). Syesha will definitely be around for a while.

CARLY SMITHSON
"The Shadow of Your Smile"
I think Carly is great. This particular performance was questionable. I'm fairly impressed by her power in spite of having bronchitis though, so yeah. I think she'll be around for a while.

Top Honors: The clear winners this week are Amanda, Asia'h, and Alexandrea. I also really like Brooke, but her style is so different it makes it hard to compare.

Pack Your Bags: Amy Davis needs to go. Her performance was simply terrible. Joining her ought to be Joanne, Kristy, or maybe Ramiele. I'm sure some will disagree with me, but this is my blog. Get your own if you don't like it :)