No big surprises tonight, unfortunately. Phil was back in the bottom three, Sanjaya was safe and Haley went home.
Even though I think Sanjaya was better this week, there's no way he deserves to have made it this far.
As Simon so often likes to remind us, this is a singing competition, and Mr. Malakar just doesn't have the goods.
It's almost insulting to have super-belters like LaKisha and Melinda competing against such a mediocre talent.
Yet, therein lies the dilemma. While the most of the singing is pretty good this season, the personality seems to be missing and maybe that's where Sanjaya's appeal lies. People want an idol, which is about more than a good voice.
Interestingly, it seems that we had the opposite problem with Taylor Hicks last year. Good voice, but goofy look and even goofier dancing. I guess that means that since Sanjaya is the inverse Taylor, he'll take home the gold this year.
But, at this point, who can even tell? --A.T.
I actually feel bad for Haley. I thought she should've been gone weeks ago, but after Simon's comment that she was only making it each week because of her skimpy attire, I know it must suck to go out on a relatively low note like that.
At least the system worked the way it's supposed to this week.
--A.T.
That was actually okay.
I must admit I thought Jenny would be much more mediocre.
But like the rest of this drawn-out show it was a big yawner for me. --A.
T.
Whoever sprinkled fairy dust on Sanjaya is smiling somewhere in Never Never Land. He remains unaffected by the dreaded bottom three once again.
Haley is not a shocker, nor is Phil, for that matter, but Chris deserves better. I'm putting my money on Scarnato, but this season, anything's possible. Wow.
--A.T.
Upon hearing Sanjaya sing Besame Mucho again, I actually think it was a pretty good performance.
But he's in no danger of going home anyway, right? --A.T.
I could be wrong, but I think this is the first time a big artist has been on Idol twice in one season -- and just 2 weeks after their first appearance.
Then again, maybe not considering he just did a 30-second version of Don't Matter. Oh well.
--A.T.
Ryan gets the pulse of L.
A. with some man-on-the-street reporting. Here's what he found out:
-Of course some guy loved Haley's satin hot-shorts.
Ugh.
-Sanjaya's mustache was apparently the star of last night's show.
-One little girl is putting all her money on LaKisha.
-Ladies on their way to work don't want to kiss Ryan. --A.T.
I hate these group sings as much as Ken, and tonight's is no exception. Interesting that they paired Haley and Sanjaya together for a painful harmonizing session.
Everyone else sounds disjointed, and they're all trying to outsing one another.
Eek. Let's not dance. --A.
T.
Ryan starts the show with a subtle Sanjaya joke and the rising star plays along. Very cheeky, indeed, Malakar.
Simon gives a lamé-laden Paula a lustful look and a sly wink. Very, very cheeky.
Uh-oh I think we're veering into Corey Clark territory with Simon's jab at Paula.
--A.T.
OK, I'm out of here.
Here's my parting message -- the official summary:
A Latin languor descended upon the eight American Idol finalists Tuesday night, making for an amazingly consistent round of performances. Unfortunately, it was the consistency of flan.
No one — including a restrained Sanjaya Malakar, who sang Besame Mucho in muted but tasteful fashion — was disastrous.
Front-runners such as Melinda Doolittle (who sang the oldie Sway), LaKisha Jones (Conga), Blake Lewis (I Need to Know) and Jordin Sparks (Rhythm Is Gonna Get You) were adequate, as were Santana copyists Phil Stacey (Maria Maria) and Chris Richardson (Smooth). Haley Scarnato let her backing singers take the lead, but still picked the night’s coolest song, Turn the Beat Around.
But no one captured the passion and zest of the best Latin-styled music.
Overall, this Latin class gets a C.
One contestant, possibly the judge-blasted Phil, will be sent home tonight (Fox, 9 ET/PT).
I'm back -- had to compose a suitable official summary.
That experiment worked out pretty well, don't you think? I think the pace of the show is a little too fast and our technology a little too slow to allow for a really animated point/counterpoint blog series, but I liked having an alternative viewpoint, and I know Arienne will solo on country night next week in fine fashion.
So here's my quick performance rankings.
As I said earlier, even though I won't see them for nearly two weeks, please post your own rankings and picks for best, worst and goner, and I'll keep the database intact and publish the results (though some will be a bit anticlimactic).
1. Jordin.
I really don't think anyone was outstanding, and it was very tough to distinguish No. 1 from No. 7, say.
They all achieved the same lukewarm consistency. But Jordin's song was lively and she had a few good vocal moments.
2.
Melinda. I guess. If only because she's so talented.
But I was bored, frankly.
3. LaKisha.
Because I kind of like the song and she sang it solidly.
4. Phil.
Judges probably ranked him worst, but I thought, except for that grisly end, he did pretty good.
5. Chris.
It was smooth. That's about all you can say for it.
6.
Blake. Likewise.
7.
Sanjaya. I could almost rate him 5th; it wasn't bad. I docked him a couple of notches for that silly Smoldering Gaze of Love at the end.
8. Haley. My favorite song of the night, but she really didn't handle it that well.
But maybe male voters will give her a leg up.
Thanks for being nice my first go round! It's just us while Ken's gone.
Can't wait for Jenny from the block tomorrow night ! Hasta la vista. --A.
T.
Hi everyone! It's Arienne -- happy to blog with you tonight.
Here goes...
According to Ryan, Ms. Lopez is an unstoppable force, but I personally think her vocal prowess just about matches Sanjaya's. Fingers crossed she sounds okay tonight.
She looks totally hot though. -- A.T.
So here's how I hope it's going to work tonight with the dual live posts from me and my guest host, Arienne Thompson. I'll generally post a first reaction to the performance, followed by Arienne's commentary, with (if there's time) possibly a bit of counter-commentary and dialogue between us.
At times I might drop out when I'm trying to write the official summary.
You'll be able to tell my posts apart from Arienne's because we're planning to tag them with our initials. That should work fine, if I can remember to do it.
Anyway, see you in about five for this grand experiment in terror.
For all you Akon fans out there, or those Idol viewers who would like to see him do something more representative of his talents than serving as Gwen Stefani's hype man, it was just announced that he'll be performing his current No. 1 single Don't Matter on Wednesday's show.
So that explains part of how they're planning to stretch this hour-long results show.
Starting Wednesday, I'm daring the fates and taking a pretty badly needed vacation. That means I'll miss that night's results show, next Tuesday's country performance night, and the next night's results.
But there are plans afoot to keep things rolling along.
In phase one, tonight, my colleague Arienne Thompson, who bows to no one in her strong opinions on Idol concerns, will be joining me in attempting the death-defying feat of a dual live blog on the performances. We have no idea how this will turn out, but please check it out and join in with your comments.
Then Arienne will take over while I'm gone -- she'll blog live about the results show Wednesday, then blog live again the following Tuesday on the performances, and again the following Wednesday for the results show.
She'll also make sure Bucky's next diary installment goes up, and any earthshaking Idol news will also be posted by the site's eagle-eyed team.
I'm going to TiVo the missing shows, so I'll be able to catch up to the discussion when I return April 23. In the meantime, I encourage you tonight and next Tuesday to send in your picks for best, worst and most likely to be sent home, or your rankings of the performances.
That will maintain the database, and I'll tally them when I get back (although I may feed the cats or something first).
Meanwhile, give Arienne a warm Blog Pound welcome, and I know you'll be able to keep the discussions raging. I've seeded a few posts that will pop up (Bucky review and track-by-track overview chief among them), so it'll be as if I never left -- or even better!
See you tonight at 8 ET for the Latin spectacular. Remember, there's always room for J-Lo.
Having read most of the morning after comments, I've got to say I've rarely seen the comments so divided.
There's the contingent that regrets the loss of Gina, of course, with a lot of anger directed either at Haley, who they feel should have taken the bullet instead, or Sanjaya, whose continued presence has deprived better singers of a continuing role in the race. (That last point doesn't seem to have reached tragic mass yet -- Brandon and Gina really had no shot at getting much higher, and the prospects for Stephanie, who would probably have been swamped by Melinda and Jordin and likely LaKisha, and Chris Sligh, who was unraveling before our eyes, didn't look much better.)
Then there are the defenders of Haley, who seem to be mostly a randy bunch, and of Sanjaya, who make up a more diverse group.
after the break. (I never get tired of using that line. You might get tired of reading it, though .
..)
The widespread sentiment that this year's crop of Idols is not as exciting or compelling as last year's appears to be reflected in the ratings.
Bill Keveney kindly analyzes the latest figures:
With 26.7 million viewers Tuesday, American Idol’s performance show will almost certainly again be the most-watched show of the week. However, the show was down 7% from the comparable show last season (28.
8 million).
Audiences for Idol’s Top 12 shows have been down from last season, but this is the first week they can be evenly compared because Daylight Saving Time applies to both episodes. DST, which results in an audience drop, kicked in three weeks earlier this year.
With the help of huge audiences for the audition shows, Season 6 to date is slightly ahead of Season 5 in viewers.
They’re challenging to sing, but standards tend to bring out the best in American Idol contestants — maybe because the singers are forced to rein in their most annoying excesses to handle the sophisticated lyrics and melodies.
This year’s hopefuls, coached by a master of the form, Tony Bennett, responded as expected.
There were a number of near-peak performances from the likes of Jordin Sparks, LaKisha Jones, Blake Lewis and even Sanjaya Malakar (“near-peak” meaning, in his case, bordering on adequate).
Haley Scarnato and Gina Glocksen impressed more than usual, and Phil Stacey and Chris Richardson sang reasonably well, making it one of the rare Idol nights without a vocal meltdown.
But front-runner Melinda Doolittle clearly outclassed the group with a scorching rendition of I’ve Got Rhythm, accelerating from first to fourth vocal gear in 90 seconds.
In case you missed the show or were fixing a sandwich while Ryan was running down the new performers and guests on the big Idol Gives Back special, Bill Keveney thoughtfully procured the details from the official announcement:
New names confirmed include: Keira Knightley, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Grant, Pink, Gwen Stefani, Helena Bonham Carter, Daniel Radcliffe and Rowan Atkinson. They’ve also booked a second venue, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown L.A.
, for the April 25 two-hour special. Kelly Clarkson will return to Idol that night, performing at Disney Concert Hall. Tickets will go on sale April 10, with profits going to charity.
You can get more information at americanidol.com. As previously announced, the April 24 show will feature the Idol contestants singing “songs of hope.
”
Time for my favorite subjective exercise of the night: rating the contestants. (And, of course, send me your ratings, your picks for best/worst/heading homeward -- any way you want to present it, it all goes into the collective-wisdom poll.)
Listening back to the snippets before the end of the show does sometimes alter my impressions a little, although I can't pay close attention because I'm usually slamming together the piece that runs in the paper about then.
Still, some things sounded better (or worse) than they originally did.
Anyway, overall, looks as if Sister DF called it correctly -- one of the better overall performance nights, with no trainwrecks and a number of highlights. (I wonder if I tend to like Standards Night better because I'm not as emotionally invested in the songs, which are way before even my time, and it doesn't bother me as much if someone tramples on them.
)
1. Melinda, no contest
2. Jordin -- becoming more impressed with her poise, style, and skill all the time.
3. LaKisha -- got better as the song progressed, and really was better than those following.
4.
Blake -- may get lost by going first, but really pretty smooth.
5. Haley -- I respect the way she's going after this (musically -- maybe not the LCD pandering with the outfits), and that was ambitious and pretty well executed.
6. Gina -- Was half-expecting a disaster and it certainly was far from that.
7.
Chris -- How exactly did he make this song young and hip again?
8. Phil -- Sounded a lot more dreary on the recap.
He just got outsung.
9. Sanjaya -- Half-decent for once, but that's not enough to bring him out of the cellar.
'Idol''s Warwick on Sanjaya, phone scams, and malevolent websites
Idol exec producer Ken Warwick staged a conference call with reporters today, commenting on topics including Sanjaya (he doesn't think Mr. Malakar will win), Chris Sligh (he disputes Sligh's account of the original song issue), websites attempting to influence the vote ( no impact ) and conspiracy theories about dialing scams ( rubbish ). Here's LuzElena Avitia's report:Sanjaya, the next American Idol?
Executive producer Ken Warwick doesn’t think so, telling reporters on Tuesday, “America normally get it right in the end. I’m pretty confident Sanjaya will not be the American Idol this year.”
But he does recognize that, “If he makes it to the end, its because the American public want to see more of him and that’s what its about.
”
And no need to worry AI fans, should Sanjaya beat the odds to become the winner, Simon Cowell will be staying put (despite threats to resign if it happens), as he’s contractually obligated to remain with the show.
In regard to all the hoopla about the Howard Stern/Votefortheworst.com effect, Warwick claims there is no impact on the 40 million votes received weekly by any radio show host or internet site.
“There is very little at this point that can affect any of the votes that would actually change the actual positions of anybody.”
But what about sneaky Internet modems rigged to hijack the phone lines and vote hundreds of times for one contestant? “There’s never ever been a situation where by any technical advantage” helped a contestant, he says.
“All this rubbish is just not true.”
How can he possibly know this is true? Warwick revealed, “There’s an apparatus in place immediately to trace any single call out of the 30-40 million we get (64 in the final), trace it back, and if any number comes back as an anomaly they are pointed out to Telescope (the company that manages the voting process) and they take the appropriate action.
But it’s never ever been used.”
More material, including candid comments on certain Idols, follows.
Here's a lengthy, slightly snide but interesting at Idol from a British perspective.
See you tonight for standards.
Last thoughts on Chris, many thoughts on Sanjaya
A few reflections on last night, Sanjaya and whatever else might pop into my head (dangerous premise to start a post with) ...
Although you picked Haley to go by a slight margin over Chris Sligh, you did overwhelmingly choose them for the bottom two, so on a technicality I would say that the Blog Pound is still 3-for-3. (This statement may be declared invalid by the official rulesmakers at a later date.
)
I see, after reading your comments, that you also had a hard time mustering up a whole lot of outrage about Chris S.'s departure. (Yes, when you think Sanjaya's still there and Chris is gone, that's infuriating, but how often can you say that?
) Chris had apparently lost his spark and started to turn people off. Running out of breath and dragging a mike stand around like an I.V.
apparatus does not a dynamic performance make. But overall, I'll remember him with affection.
Finally, a few remarks about Sanjaya follow.
A note of thanks before we get to the results: Each day the top brass at USA TODAY pick a story to receive an internal award for outstanding achievement. I wouldn't bring this up, except it applies to you, the Idol Chatter Blog Pound. Because it was your level of enthusiasm and participation in the Sanjaya stories in the paper today that impressed the awards committee enough to give Edna Gundersen (who chose the responses and wove them into the story) and me (who just came along for the ride -- I just asked you to respond if you were interested and forwarded Edna the e-mails) the recognition.
So thanks for that.
(A subtext in the award, I think, is that Idol Chatter is regarded as one of the premier blogs on the site, both for quantity of traffic and quality of dialogue. So that's what you should really feel good about.
)
OK, sorry to do this, but your votes are in, and we'll get to the results ...
after the break.
Let’s get it out of the way up front: the much-vilified Sanjaya Malakar stole the show on American Idol Tuesday. Not by superior singing (he was better than usual but hopelessly outclassed by his rivals), but by setting new standards for hair-raising adventure by sporting an astonishing fauxhawk (see photo elsewhere on the site, I hope).
Perhaps he was auditioning for a modernized Disney Channel revival of Davy Crockett in which the title character doesn’t bother with a cap, instead affixing the raccoon tail directly to his natural hair.
Somewhat lost amid the follicular follies were an encouraging number of good performances. Contestants scored on No Doubt numbers (Chris Richardson’s smooth Don’t Speak, Jordin Sparks’ lively Hey Baby) and songs that influenced guest mentor Gwen Stefani — notably, Phil Stacey’s controlled Every Breath You Take, Melinda Doolittle’s assured Heaven Knows, and Blake Lewis’ tasteful reading of The Cure’s Love Song.
In a first for this season, no one was utterly deplorable.
One contestant — one would hope Sanjaya was the hair apparent — will be exiled Wednesday night (Fox, 9 ET/PT).
Sorry this took so long.
It took me forever to try to describe Sanjaya's coiffure for a family audience, and I don't think I captured it. Mind-boggling.
Anyway, looking back, this was a surprisingly pleasant night.
Not one performance that I could honestly describe as awful -- pretty good song choices, pretty good vocals, pretty good mentoring. And all anybody will be talking about in the mass media will be Sanjaya's 'do. It should buy him at least three weeks, I'm guessing.
Before I get to my ratings, please -- as usual -- send in yours, or use the best/worst/most likely to leave (that's one I can't predict this week) format.
1. Phil: When he stays within his range and doesn't try to do too much (and wears a hat), he's surprisingly tolerable.
Best so far from him.
2. Melinda: Well done, just another ho-hum song choice.
Donna Summer has much more interesting songs.
3. Blake: Bordering on bland but really nicely sung, tasteful Cure rendition.
4. Jordin: Hey Baby was a tough song to translate to the Idol stage, but I'm glad she gave it a shot.
5.
Chris R: Not a fan of Don't Speak, but he made it work for him.
6. LaKisha: Combination of a song I'm sick to death of and a less than overwhelmingly sparkling performance (not to mention Melinda doing better with an equally trite Summer song) brought it down for me.
7. Gina: If this was her best, I'm just not fated to be a fan of hers.
8.
Haley: Tough to choose between this and Chris S. for second to last -- really not bad but far from a standout.
9.
Chris S: Phil's superior Police performance also knocks this one down a few pegs.
10. Sanjaya: One of his better performances, but still worse than the others.
He may have benefited from choosing a relatively unfamiliar album cut so the invidious comparisons were minimized.
Should be an interesting night. I'm hoping for a couple things:
1.
Greater clarity on the theme, after the mixed signals floating around in the last week: '90s pop, pop in general, songs by Gwen Stefani's influences. I've avoided any spoilers because I want my live reactions to be reasonably fresh and unpremeditated, but I'm curious to hear what the songs are going to be.
2.
No crying-tween-type stunts by the producers. I know it's ridiculous to hold this show to rigorous standards of fairness, but last week was a low blow to the credibility.
See you in about 20.
Idol exec producer Nigel Lythgoe held a conference call this afternoon, with a little news resulting. He confirmed the reports that the amateur song contest to create the coronation song this year is unlikely to have an accompanying TV special -- and may not happen at all, although he holds out the possibility that the contest will still happen on the Internet (and that a TV special is still a vague possibility). And he was more specific about this week's musical theme.
Here's a report from Bill Keveney:
Nigel Lythgoe said he believes a public Internet songwriting competition is likely to happen this season, but a TV special featuring former Idol contestants performing the songs is less certain. Producers have been so focused on putting together a charity-based show, Idol Gives Back, that there hasn’t been time to organize a special featuring songs designed to be the Idol winner’s first single, he said in a conference call Monday. If the competition goes ahead, he said he would like to do a songwriting competition special.
“It would be a really good way of presenting the songs.”
On tomorrow’s show, the remaining 10 singers will perform songs by artists who have inspired guest mentor Gwen Stefani.
(Which could mean a lot of ska and '80s new wave/new romantics.
)
I'm sitting here late in the evening trying to catch up on the comments (still about 400 to go, I think), but I had to stop and dash off a note of thanks to everyone who commented on the Voter Performance Index -- and even better, actually did one of your own. The whole idea came to me in a weird, momentary flash, and I had no idea how you'd react -- although I did have a hunch that it was, as Howard Roark so thoughtfully put it, the nerdiest thing ever seen.
Well, no denying that -- I like to mess around with numbers (this stems from, as Sister DF cleverly surmised, a childhood love of baseball and its statistics that has persisted deep into adulthood).
I certainly didn't expect everyone to agree with my conclusions, and you certainly didn't, but I did think it was a pretty simple way for anyone to measure which Idol season was the most annoyingly off from your own perceptions. And it's interesting to see that for the most part, it's agreed that Season 3, the Year of Jasmine and John Stevens and Jennifer Hudson and JPL (Year of the J's for short), was the most messed-up.
Also, while I'm referencing Sister DF -- the unfortunate elderly readers reference in the Elliott review was intended to mean readers of IC who have been around long enough (a year or so) to remember the big Leon Russell/Donny Hathaway Song for You crediting flap (Caren, you guessed that one totally on the money).
It was not a reference to anyone's chronological maturity, but I sure could have picked a better word.
To all those who have commented something to the effect of, It's just a show, don't take it so seriously/Stephanie didn't deserve to exit so soon, but she never would have won/Sanjaya is annoying, but he'll never win/Did I mention it's just a show? -- point taken.
You're right. I and many of you do tend to obsess over things like the order of elimination that really matter little in the larger Idol scheme of things.
Yet, as others pointed out, once you get invested/sucked in/addicted (choose one or all) to the show, you tend to become a raging, ranting crusader for justice and talent (as opposed to other factors that contribute to popularity), and any time the voters deviate from the correct order of best-to-worst performer, it wounds you and winds you up.
It's partly part of the fun of following Idol closely, and partly a desire to hold the show accountable to its stated mission of being a singing contest (even though we know that's not the criterion everyone bases votes on).
So anyway, as a means of amping myself down a little from the offense-against-good-sense of Stephanie's exit, I devised a little toy called the Voter Performance Index. Explanation of how it works and five-season examples follow.
The tech team kind of snuck up on me with this (thought it wasn't going into effect until tomorrow), but in accordance with the majority's expressed wishes (at least the majority that voted, just like in the USA at large), the comments are now running earliest to latest.
Advantages include being able to follow a thread from beginning to end without reading upside down or backward to forward.
But, and it's a big but, in almost a Sir Mix-a-Lot sense, the tech squad has added a dropdown gizmo at the top of the comments that allows you, the reader, to reorder the comments newest to oldest if you so desire.
That should make even more people happy.
Hope you'll find the changes agreeable.
I mentioned in the Your picks post taht there were comments that triggered various reactions for me.
First among them is that I totally agree with virtually all of you about canonizing Lulu as best Idol mentor ever. Sound advice (often ignored), sparkling personality, looked great, and when she spontaneously sang little accappella chunks of various songs, she sounded great. As to having her replace Paula, well, we can only dream .
..
So it seems tearful little Ashley was a plant after all, somebody who sobbed so noticeably at rehearsals that the producers moved her up to the primo camera-convenient seat she had at the show.
I guess you could chalk that up as Idol's homage to the British Invasion, footage of which always includes girls crying hysterically over everyone from The Beatles to Freddie The Dreamers. But using her to so shamelessly promote the embarrassing Sanjaya was a good conduct violation on the part of the show.
Mike R.
asked if I knew the facts I spewed out about Haley's song Tell Him off the top of my head, or whether the show sent me an advance list of songs to be performed. Well, they definitely don't send me an advance list -- although with the accuracy the spoilers are displaying so far, I could look at those and pre-research the songs. But Tell Him, and some of the other songs the Idols do, are really familiar to me, so sometimes I just have to unlock the proper synapse and let the trivia rush forth.
And JohnLocke59 asks, How does a guy who rates the singes based almost entirely on whether or not he likes the song they're singing (never mind if they, you know, actually sing well, usually) get such a lofty perch at USA Today?
It's simple, JL. I write fast.
To paraphrase a great newspaperman, A.J. Liebling, if you can write faster than anyone who can write better and write better than anyone who can write faster, you're in good shape for a journalism career.
But I'm not going to apologize for making song choice a key factor in my ratings. If someone's singing overexposed, sluggish, inappropriate, or just plain lousy songs, no matter how accomplished the singing is, that's going to affect my enjoyment of the performance. The judges harp on song choice, and it's one of the few things I agree with them (well, Randy and Paula) on.
OK, almost time for the results show. See you, cyberspatially speaking, in about 15 minutes.
Songwriting contest on back burner?
And a little bit of news -- looks like the Idol souvenir song this summer will once again be written by a *cough, hack* professional songwriter. It the producers will get the proposed songwriting contest together this year. That's too bad.
Speaking of news, I missed linking to this on the Idol tour, featuring a rare appearance in the mass media for Kevin Covais.
I feel like I just read a book. Fortunately, it was an interesting one -- your comments on and rankings of the contestants were a fascinating bunch.
I have a few scrawled notes for further discussion, but for now, let's get to the main topic: who you thought was best, worst, and headed out of town.
Close race for best, but Jordin is your winner, followed by Melinda (although many qualified their votes with some sort of performance-over-song disclaimer) and then Blake. Nobody else was in their league, vote-total-wise, though Chris Sligh, LaKisha and Haley got decent support.
There was more of a split than usual, with everyone except ...
Stephanie getting a vote (yes, even Sanjaya has his supporters here, and I have to commend them for their bravery considering the general tenor of your (and my) remarks on the subject).
The race for worst was also very close, but good old reliable Sanjaya won by an eyelash over Phil. Gina was a pretty close third, and Stephanie pulled a lot of votes to rank fourth worst.
No one else was close, but again, all but one contestant got a vote in this category (that was Jordin).
Who will go home? Well, not Sanjaya, you are convinced.
I have to agree, if only for the lengths the producers and judges seemed to go to protect him and bolster his support. Dangerous game, guys -- if he gets too much higher he will be a true embarrassment to the franchise. Then again, as some of you suggested, it might just be they want him on the tour to sell teenybopper tickets and then hope he goes away next week or shortly thereafter.
No, it's Stephanie you think will go, followed fairly closely by Phil, who in turn is followed fairly closely by Gina (none of them got a majority). Right now, that's how I'd call it as well. We'll see what reality tells us later tonight.
Good night -- I'll catch up with you tomorrow afternoon, when I'll be a comment-reading fool. Here's the official summary:
Combining American Idol contestants with British songs four decades old sounded like a dangerous proposition on paper, but it made for a diverting evening of light musical entertainment.
Tuesday’s show wasn’t without excruciating moments, of course — mostly when the singers tried to rock.
Phil Stacey hollered his way through a spirited but strained Tobacco Road, and Sanjaya Malakar sang You Really Got Me as if something capable of inducing great pain had really got him in a sensitive place.
However, two Zombies songs were standouts: Blake Lewis expertly finessed Time of the Season and Chris Sligh pulled off a fine She’s Not There. Jordin Sparks and LaKisha Jones handled ballads (I Who Have Nothing and Diamonds Are Forever) with assurance.
One contestant — and that segment of the population over the age of 10 must hope it’s Sanjaya — will be eliminated tonight (Fox, 9 ET/PT).
OK, before we get to the official summary, I'll attempt the usual parlor trick of rating the performances. (Urk -- more Ashley!
) Overall, I found this night rather enjoyable, with the usual peaks and valleys.
It seems that spoiler you guys cited earlier had the goods -- he got all the song choices correct. It's not surprising that kind of info can leak out of the Idol fortress -- no big deal (although, for surprise element, I'd rather not know ahead of time) as long as voting results don't leak.
Anyway, the rankings:
1. Blake -- very assured Time of the Season.
2.
Chris S: Can you tell I'm a huge Zombies fan?
3. Jordin: I didn't love the performance, but I Who Have Nothing just always suckerpunches me.
4. LaKisha: Don't love the song, but she won me over with that performance.
5.
Haley: I give a lot of points for song choice, and Tell Him was ideal for her.
6. Stephanie: Far from her best but nicely done
Now it gets tough as we start the second division.
7. Melinda: Since everything else had serious flaws, I guess this flawless but excitement-free performance has to go here. Could switch places with Stephanie, but I like You Don't Have to Say You Love Me as a song choice much better than the Oliver ditty.
8. Gina: I actually probably enjoyed her more than Melinda this week, but the judges were right -- it was erratic.
9.
Phil: Again, really flawed, but a few extra points for good song choice and noble, failed attempt to rock.
10. Chris R: He sang fine, but I just thought he torched the melody of Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying into oblivion.
11. Retaining his seemingly permanent lock on last place, Sanjaya just brutally tortured both his tender vocal cords and that wonderful old Kinks chestnut. What was he thinking?
Send me your ratings of the show, your picks for best, worst, and impending extinction, and any other reactions you had. Official summary in a few minutes.
Thanks to all who have registered opinions about the ordering of comments (new or old first).
So far the sentiment is running in favor of old-to-new (adding new comments to the bottom), so you can read the thread in order.
I will check with the tech squad about that and some of the other suggestions that came up, which make a lot of sense. (That of course does not guarantee that they are either feasible or even considered desirable by the folks administering the site, who often proceed by different logics than our own.
)
Meanwhile, this week we'll have an official Elliott review, followed by my own track-by-track impressions. There's a good chance of a big story on Chris Daughtry and his success, by Edna Gundersen, and I also did get a hold of Chris Sligh's group's album, so I'll report back on that as well later in the week. Oh yeah, there's also British Invasion night, which I'm looking forward to.
(Given the choice of mentors, I've got to think they'll restrict the songs to the 1964-1968 era, with possibly a little fudging, but no Spice Girls.) As usual, I'll be blogging that night, and the results show, live, with the able assistance of my valued co-commentators in the Blog Pound. As always, it'll be fun for the whole family, except for those family members who are Sanjaya fans.
Finally having a bit of time to devote to my greatest pleasure in the world of Idol Chatter -- that would be reading your comments -- I think I got through around 300 today. At least I feel caught up now. As a result, I have a series of scattered comments of my own triggered by some of yours.
Sally asked for my take on Dial Idol and other predictors of the results. I prefer not to look at them, both from my dislike of potential spoilers and my lack of faith in their prophetic skills. (Didn't do so well on Sanjaya this time.
) I place more faith in what you collectively predict -- note that Brandon was the unanimous choice here to be eliminated, while I wasn't sure of that at all.
SarahW. noted that my official summary of Tuesday's performance night omitted Chris Richardson and Stephanie, and theorized it was because they were, essentially, boring.
Well, maybe to an extent, but those official summaries are, as those of you who still actually see the newspaper know, what I write for the next day's paper. (They're done on the fly, because it's the last thing left to put in the section, and I usually have about two minutes between the last performance and the final deadline to turn it in.) So, unlike with my more garrulous posts here, space becomes an issue, and in this case I just didn't have room to pop in mentions of Chris R.
and Stephanie. It wasn't an intentional slight.
I wanted to throw the following issue out to the consensus of the users (that is, you).
We can change the order of the comments so the new ones come in at the bottom, rather than at the top, which is the default the new site's designers chose. I can go either way on this myself -- when I'm catching up on a few new comments, it's a lot easier to just read them from the top. But if, as I did the last couple of days, I was trying to catch up at up to 100 at a time, it is a huge pain in the .
.. well, everywhere to scroll down to the bottom, read bottom to top on each page, and painfully make my way to the top.
So I'm interested to hear your preferences. Let me know, I'll tally 'em up, and we'll proceed from there next week.
Speaking of comments, there was an interesting range of them about Diana Ross' performance.
Many agreed with me that it was lacking in luster, but a few people seemed to think I was showing a lack of respect to one of the greats. I would like to affirm that I am fully aware of her stature, I like a lot of her records, I own virtually everything she did with The Supremes (including their rare collaboration with Phil Spector and Brian Wilson for the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission) and most of the solo stuff, her album with Chic (one of a few she called Diana) is a special favorite, and so forth. Still, I think it's only natural that when somebody -- anybody -- performs on Idol, I would be impelled to critique it.
I can't help myself -- it must be my inner Simon. (What a horrifying concept!) And my inner Simon says (what a horrifying concept for a game -- Simon Cowell Says) it was a shaky performance at best.
All signs (and other blogs and sources) indicate that it's British Invasion night Tuesday. That's one I'm really looking forward to, for both unexpected delights and expected trainwrecks.
And I can't possibly sign off for the week without acknowledging one of the cleverest turns of phrase yet encountered among your comments -- yes, I'm talking about my Northern Virginia homey Annoyed's brilliant coining of the definitive term for Sanjaya's fan base: Sanjanistas.
If I wore a hat, it would be off to you.
Wish somebody had chosen Where Did Our Love Go Tuesday. Even Sanjaya sounds passable on the group sing-along.
But Haley's really shaky on Baby Love. And LaKisha should stay away from light pop tunes.
I also wish someone had done Stop in the Name of Love.
The song choices last night were pretty dismal.
As group-sings go, that was on the tolerable side. Too bad -- now I can't use any Stop -- in the name of decency or Where did our tune go jokes.
OK, I spent the last hour speed-reading all the comments on my final summary, so I at least have some idea of what the prevailing thoughts are. Really fascinating stuff, too, and they sparked a couple of ideas for future posts if things slow down a little around here.
Anyway, before the results show starts, I'll quickly run down your picks.
Best: Melinda by a slim margin over LaKisha. Jordin was a pretty strong third; scattered support for Gina and Haley.
Worst: As if you couldn't guess.
Brandon is a distant second to Sanjaya, with Chris R., Gina, Haley and Phil also represented.
Who will go home: Not many seem sure, but Brandon is the clear choice of those who are.
Back with live show commentary.
Here's what kind of day I'm having: I have not had a single moment to read any of the hundreds of comments from you regarding last night's show. Don't you hate it when work gets in the way of the good stuff?
I hope to catch up Thursday, but meanwhile I'm girding myself for an unpleasant results show (and I don't mean if Diana Ross does a bad song or if -- shudder -- there's another group singalong, although that will almost surely be unpleasant).
No, I'm worried that the likes of Sanjaya and Brandon and Gina will survive and someone promising -- meaning Stephanie, the one I'm really worried about -- will get axed. I know that in the end, Idol usually gets it right, but along the way I'd be a lot happier if there were fewer unnecessarily early casualties.
Stay tuned in an hour or so for 30 minutes of rollicking fun, unbearable tension and off-the-cuff posts, and as always, join in.
Here's the final summary from me.
It was Diana Ross night on American Idol’s first finals show Tuesday, and the women reigned supreme.
Most of the men misfired attempting to sing material from Ross or The Supremesa. Brandon Rogers delivered a lukewarm You Can’t Hurry Love, Phil Stacy demolished I’m Gonna Make You Love Me and the Sanjaya Malakar travesty worsened with a pathetically weak Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. Even front-runners Chris Sligh and Blake Lewis flopped with rearragements, Sligh injecting a Coldplay vibe into, oddly, Endless Love and Lewis executing a sub-par You Keep Me Hanging On.
The women were at least competent — a passable Love Child by Gina Glocksen, an appealing Missing You by Haley Scarnato — and at times better than that. LaKisha Jones won the night with an impressively nuanced God Bless the Child. And Melinda Doolittle and Jordin Sparks picked dull Ross ballads (Home, If We Hold On Together) but sang them skillfully.
The first finalist is eliminated tonight (Fox, 9 ET/PT). Malakar would be the logical choice.
Official summary coming up, but first I'll list my idiosyncratic performance ratings.
First, Diana Ross was innocuous enough, projecting some warmth, occasionally dispensing useful tips. I would have liked to have seen more adventurous choices from her repertoire, but I shouldn't expect that.
OK, the ratings:
1.
LaKisha. The right move, the right execution.
2.
I'm going to go with Jordin; she showed an unexpected maturity.
3. Just to be contrarian, I'll pick Stephanie, by a nose over Melinda, just because Melinda's song was so tedious.
4. Melinda. Still overall the best singer.
5. Hayley; that was the most appealing I've heard her yet.
6.
OK, I guess I better put a guy in there. By process of elimination (and I hope a guy gets eliminated tomorrow), that would have to be Blake. Good song, not trampled on too much, although that falsetto flight should have been grounded.
7. Gina. Certainly an innocuous Love Child.
8. Chris S. Weird arrangement, very bad song choice, but at least there was some originality to it.
His voice didn't sound all that great, though.
9. Brandon.
A good song, sung with reasonable competence, for the most part.
10. Chris R.
One of my least favorite performances by him -- just couldn't grab on to it.
11. Phil.
Bland song, bland performance, creepy vibe. I'm just not a fan yet.
12.
Sanjaya. It's time to end it now.
I'm really curious to see how the guys handle doing Diana Ross material.
Coach Christina theorizes they may be able to do other Motown songs, but I'm entranced by the idea of some poor guy trying to sing Touch Me in the Morning or something.
Most of you probably know this, by the way, but Chris Sligh's band Half Past Forever is making its debut album, Take a Chance on Something Beautiful, available on Amazon.com starting today.
I may spring for one of those.
Show starts momentarily. Hope you'll join in.
Thanks for the great response so far to the Idol Handicap, where you pick the 12 finalists in order of where you feel they will finish. (I might have posted an incorrect deadline for this contest previously; there's no reason you can't submit entries until, say, 6 p.m.
ET Wednesday.)
It occurred to me, while I was storing them away in a file, that these entries not only make a good -- if not impossible, as some of you surmise -- contest, but they also provide a great database. If we accept the wisdom of crowds theory -- that a collective point of view has a strong predictive ability -- then your entries, made up of projections from some of the most astute scholars in the Idolverse, ought to have tons of the stuff.
So I ran an analysis on the first 60 entries I received, assigning a simple point value for each position you assigned the finalists and averaging them out to arrive at an Idol Chatter Predicted Standings. That fascinating piece of analysis follows.
USA TODAY's LuzElena Avitia was at Thursday night's Idol bash honoring the 12 finalists.
Here's what went down in Hollywood:
American Idol's final 12 were celebrated after Thursday's elimination show with a red carpet, gourmet chow mein, custom cocktails (for those of age) and minimal star-wattage.
Season 1 runner-up Justin Guarini set the tone for the night at the ultra-chic Astra West/Pacific Design Center, hearing his name yelled out, maybe for the first time in years, by photographers as he made his way down the carpet.
Young Gilmore Girls co-star Vanessa Marano played with a glowstick as she said she's rooting for powerhouse singer Lakisha Jones.
But she said she won't actually be dialing in her vote until later in the season, when the show really heats up.
Actor Johnathon Schaech (who most recently co-starred with heather Locklear in the Lifetime movie Angels Fall) said his favorite finalist is Chris with the short hair
He just gets better every week.
Some of the highest praise from judges and observers has gone to Jones, a former bank teller. Asked how it feels to be considered a front-runner, she replied with a modest smile: Have I?
I haven't been paying attention.
Many have said the female contestants have been stronger vocally than the men this season. I think it's a girl's one to lose this year, judge Randy Jackson said.
May the best girl win.
Inside, guests indulged in the chow mein, served in individual tiny Chinese take-out boxes, as well as salads, bowtie pasta with broccoli and chicken, and small portions of beef tenderloin.
At the bar, themed cocktails included Paula's Passion, primarily made of sweet juices presumably to reflect Paula Abdul's sweet nature; Randy's Pitchy Note, including a dash of sour mix for the Dawg Pound; The Simon Slammer, with an appropriate dose of sour apple; and for ever-so-breezy Ryan Seacrest there was Ryan's Idol Chatter (basically a renamed Bay Breeze, with cranberry and pineapple juices).
I've told you many times that you're the smartest, most knowledgeable, most tuned-in group of Idol scholars out there. The level of your expertise never ceases to stagger me.
So (concluding flattery now), here's an intriguing little challenge for you all.
Now that you know the 12 finalists, predict the order in which they will finish, 12 (for the first out) to 1 (the eventual winner).
I don't know if it's mathematically likely that this feat can be accomplished by anyone, and heaven knows the unpredictability of the voters is going to make it pretty much a crapshoot. But let's see if anyone can do it -- if you do pull it off, at the very least you will be celebrated throughout the Idol Chatter realm as a veritable god of predictive precognition.
Send in your entries before Tuesday at let's say 6 p.m. ET, I'll keep a file, and we'll see what happens.
Could be amazing.
The Idol festivities continue. You know who the top 12 are, but stay tuned for what happened when they all got together to celebrate.
Luz Avitia, whom you may remember from some excellent L.A. Idol audition dispatches last summer, is attending the big annual party Idol throws for the 12 finalists, and she'll be filing her report around midday (ET) today.
Stay tuned.
Here's the big news that will be announced on Idol tonight. The show will be adapted to become a two-night special (April 24 and 25) called Idol Gives Back.
It's described as a special raising awareness and funds for organizations that provide relief programs to help children and young people in extreme poverty in American and Africa.
On the 24th, the usual Tuesday performance show (Fox, 8-9 p.m.
ET live/PT taped) will feature the remaining six finalists singing songs that can be considered 'Life Anthems' ...
all the songs performed will be about compassion and hope. Viewers will cast their votes as usual, but show sponsors Coca-Cola and AT T, along with other contributors, will donate money to the Chairty Projects Entertainment Fund, which will distribute funds to Save the Children and other U.S.
organizations dealing with poverty in this country. CPEF will also distribute proceeds to the U.S.
Fund for UNICEF and other organizations involved with health and education programs in Africa.
The Wednesday (25) results show will be expanded to two hours (8-10 p.m.
ET live/PT taped), adding a ton of entertainment, including Gwen Stefani, Josh Groban, Pink, Michael Buble, Annie Lennox, Il Divo and Borat Sagdiyev (aka Sacha Baron Cohen). Viewers will be encouraged to make their own donations on toll-free lines and the Internet, and the funds will be distributed similarly.
The charitable effort is a spinoff of the U.
K.'s Red Nose Day, which according to the press release has raised $820 million via the BBC. Red Nose co-founder Richard Curtis, director of Notting Hill, Love Actually and other films, worked on Live 8 with Bono, who lent a quote for this occasion:
Said Bono, We'll see worlds collide when Africa appears on America's most-watched TV show.
This is a big deal, a little bit of pop history ...
I wouldn't underestimate the reach of this show or the impact its audience can have.
Funny what can happen around here when you shoot your mouth off. In the wake of the widespread complaints here about Antonella and Sanjaya's unwarranted survival, I had been planning a post about some of the unforgettably inferior Idol finalists of the past.
Then I happened to mention that vague idea to Bruce Schwartz, our brilliant and opportunistic TV editor, and next thing I knew I was being shanghaied to write a big spread in the paper on just that topic. So, in lieu of an Idol Chatter-only post, Idol memory lane.
Alan Warner, who is an erudite and astute music publisher who follows Idol, sent me this thought-provoking question:
Don’t you think the policy of having each loser sing their party piece one more time is kinda strange?
“Yes indeed, you’re going home but before you go, remind us why we voted off”!
Interesting point. Wouldn't it be a friendlier gesture to allow the singers to sing their favorite song they've done on the show?
Of course, with certain early bootees, the range of choice would be very wide. And there's probably a consideration of the band being more familiar with the song that was sung earlier in the week, rather than working up another version of a song from the past. But still, it might be a policy worth changing.
What do you think?
I figured I might as well throw in my two cents' worth about the celebrity coaches announced last week. Purely speculative, of course -- I have no inside knowledge of actual theme nights planned and can only guess how effective and personable the coaches will actually turn out to be once we see their heavily edited guest spots during the finals.
But when has a little thing like lack of knowledge ever stopped me?
Tony Bennett: Will be charming, and with more than half a century's singing experience, should be able to impart some useful advice, without sounding like either a crank (come on down, David Foster) or a doofus (I know some of you thought Barry Manilow was a great coach last year, but I thought his arrangement suggestions were awful). I would think Bennett would appear on a Great American Songbook/Standards theme night.
Jon Bon Jovi: Also should be charming and helpful (i.e., not hopelessly full of himself).
The possibilities of an '80s Hair Band theme night are pretty tantalizing, but I'm guessing Bon Jovi would show up for a more generalized '80s music night. Though maybe, in light of Chris' success, they may have a rock night. Or even, following the Queen night last year, an actual Bon Jovi night.
Fun for Lakisha, Sabrina, et al.
(OK, this is clearly turning into one of those marathon posts that my natural logorrhea sometimes brings on. So the rest of the dissertation follows.
)
There's a lot of Idol news in today's paper that I can appropriate. First, this intriguing item:
Organizers of the Emmy Awards have enlisted the executive producers of American Idol to resuscitate the broadcast. Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick will produce the 59th Emmys Sept.
16 live on Fox (8 p.m. ET/tape PT).
Last year’s telecast, on NBC, drew 16.2 million viewers, down 13% from the previous year. Will there be a role for Ryan?
The judges? The Season 6 winner?
And then this one, from the original press release:
FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment, co-producers and licensors of American Idol, announced today the inception of Idol Camp, the first performing arts summer camp for kids between the ages of 12-15 based on the nation’s most watched television show and #1 talent search.
Born out of the desire to foster passion and creativity in young teens, Idol Camp will be a fun-filled and non-competitive training ground for America’s future stars. “Utilizing the power of the American Idol phenomenon, we can provide a truly one-of-a-kind experience,” said Mark Brittain, Head of Sales and Marketing, American Idol, 19 Entertainment.
In fact, the Idol Camp experience will include master classes from surprise celebrity guest performing artists, favorite former American Idol contestants and other top industry professionals.
Daily instruction will also be provided in a variety of classes from singing, dancing and acting to song writing and audition techniques as well as traditional camp activities such as swimming and field sports.
Just off the comments that had come in 15 minutes after the show ended (Eastern Time), I can tell this is going to be a fun year. The Blog Pound is a riot thus far -- I counted about a dozen jokes I wish I'd thought of.
(I'll cut myself a break by saying I can't think of 'em all in the three minutes or so I give myself per post, but still -- why didn't I come up with Nick Don't Vote For Pedro?) And the commentary is incisive, cutting, informed, smartly expressed -- good thing for me you all didn't decide to become rock critics; too much competition.
I'm sure a bunch of equally snappy comments from the Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones will be here for me to read Wednesday.
Looking forward to it!
After a month of often-tedious preliminaries, American Idol started for real Tuesday, with the 12 male semifinalists competing for a spot in the finals.
Many played it too safe, choosing songs by Michael Jackson, George Michael and Richard Marx.
Others plundered the classic-rock songbook (Free Ride, Nights in White Satin).
Blake Lewis and Chris Sligh stood out by doing neither, impressing by choosing Keane and Mute Math songs.
But Sundance Head played to his weaknesses with a frayed Satin, and Paul Kim’s Careless Whisper was OK on the whisper but careless on the vocal gymnastics.
As I said earlier, please let me know who you liked best and disliked most, and we'll see what the collective wisdom says about the guys' prospects.
I'm thinking Rudy and Sundance, maybe Paul, are in the most trouble. I liked Chris Sligh and Blake Lewis best for their song choices.
Chris Richardson, AJ and Brandon sang well; Phil, Nick, Jared and Sanjaya were just OK.
Nice to have it back. Official summary (preview of what will be in the paper) follows, maybe after I read your comments (haven't had a chance to do much of that, and there's a lot of 'em -- thanks as always for the enthusiasm).
So finally we get to Phil Stacey, and I might as well revive the line that was cut out in the paper's guide to the Top 24: Missed birth of kid to audition; will miss berth in finals thanks to undistinguished vocals. (Well, I thought it was clever at the time.)
Judges seem overly impressed, although he was OK, and at least it's the first sign of some country flavor (Edwin McCain song, covered by Sara Evans).
With that plum spot at the end, he may survive.
Will the 'Idol' initial jinx strike for AJ?
AJ is another of the boy-band types.He's pretty good at it, but Luther Vandross's Never Too Much is an odd song to deliver that sort of treatment to. Sounds far too lightweight when you're thinking of the original. But I think he has potential.
Simon's a bit harsh, once again, but with some seeds of sense. And they all agree it was a shaky song choice.
OK, that's the only time I'll use that headline, I promise, but I am curious to hear what this guy actually sounds like.
Pretty good, actually, although Brian McKnight's Back to One is kind of a snooze-o-matic of a song choice.
He's a smoothie, competition for Brandon although I think not quite so accomplished. Ambitious, if choppy, finish.
Judges think it was safe, too. He ought to survive.
Mute Math?
Typical? Not exactly. What a wild song choice!
Sounded good, too. Nice move.
Simon seems very skeptical, but then he's not exactly an indie-pop fan.
And Chris may have stepped over the line with his I don't sing Il Divo or the Teletubbies crack, although Simon came back nicely with his you could sing the latter jest.
Oh great, Ryan and Simon are playing verbal footsie with each other again.
Jared, Phil, AJ and Chris Sligh are left, Chris next.
AJ and Phil are two of my possible fizzle candidates, Jared should be OK, and I have no idea how Chris will do, but I'm hoping, because I'm kind of dazzled by the bizarre concept of an Idol contestant with a sense of humor, that he does well.
By the way, at the end of the show, let me know who you think will be bounced Thursday. I'll tally the results.
Sanjaya: Wonder why he picked that song?
Sanjaya Malakar loves Stevie Wonder, but that was just too tentative, sounded very airport lounge to me. He was smooth enough but Paula's right, he sounded hesitant. Simon is cruel -- that wasn't the worst, but it wasn't good. Sanjaya might be in trouble.
Blake Lewis realizes he needs to downplay the beatboxing.
Most interesting choice so far -- kind of Keane, in fact. He sang it rather sweetly, a bit ragged on the falsetto and a couple other places, but big points for initiative.
Judges agree.
A front-runner.
Chris Richardson struck me as boy-band timber. Choosing that Idol standard, I Don't Wanna Be by Gavin McGraw, is a bit out of character, especially with the modal, rockish arrangement, but he still sounds pure boy-band.
Which isn't a bad thing -- I think he's second best (to Brandon) so far tonight. Randy likes it, makes sense; Paula again is rational; and Simon is a bit harsh but his point (that Chris' voice was small ) is valid -- he did get a bit lost in the arrangement at times.
Paul works it out with George Michael, and a really bad falsetto and some pointless calls for audience participation.
The careless whisper was fine, the rest of the singing not so good.
Randy sees potential, Paula again makes sense (what's going on here?) with her oversang the song remarks, and Simon is again dead on.
Interesting choices of material -- the Moody Blues' Nights in White Satin is not what I'd expect from bluesy ol' Sundance. I'm sure he chose it for the big I love you choruses, which he's not exactly nailing to the wall. (Better on the second chorus.
)
Randy's sense of pitch is really riled, and Paula doesn't even like him. Simon's in good form tonight, I must say.
So unless Sundance's cuddly image and back story save him, he could be in trouble.
Well, you Blog Pounders playing the home version seem to agree: Rudy starts off the season with a ...
thud. He was one of the guys I didn't have a real read on, but he pretty much wilted under the hot lights.
Brandon next.
This should be just fine. Kind of a homie for me, too, I suddenly realize -- I went to high school two towns over from his hometown of Altadena, Calif.
Well, after that fascinating biographical tidbit, let's get to the singing.
Quite the romantic crooner, Brandon is. Michael Jackson, safe enough choice, and he's sounding like the professional he is. Judges should like him.
But Randy plays the pitchy card, Paula actually makes a bit of sense, and Simon echoes my term from the previous paragraph ( safe ). Still, he should survive.
Lot of filler so far, but then with 12 singers singing about 90 seconds apiece, there's a lot of time to fill.
I don't have any immediate preconceptions about who will fail tonight. I have confidence in about half of them, but it's really an open field right now. Not that that's a bad thing.
Looks like Rudy's first, and he delivers a thoroughly undistinguished, if energetic, version of a rather irrelevant oldie, Free Ride by Edgar Winter. Missing some notes there as he strains. Unimpressive.
Randy, in keeping it real, is accurate. Paula is useless as usual. Simon calls it on the dated song.
I've been reading the comments listing the early betting lines on the contestants. I totally agree, it is ridiculously early to take anything like that seriously.
But, as Howard Roark and Sister of Don Francisco observed, it does give us a chance to see who's captured the public imagination (or at least that part of the public that likes to post wagers on these competitions).
Most of the leaders so far (Chris Sligh, Sanjaya, Melinda, Lakisha) have all had plenty of airtime, as have most of the next batch (Blake, Sundance, Antonella). The only one in the top eight that kind of puzzles me in that regard is Sabrina, who got almost no airtime but is ranked with Blake, Sundance and Antonella.
The bulk of the stragglers, odds-wise, got the short end of the exposure stick.
I am surprised to see Jordin Sparks so low, though, and Paul Kim down in the bottom group.
But really (Warning: Patently obvious comment ahead), tonight will begin to tell us the real story.
I was grazing through the questionnaires filled out by the 24 semifinalists over on the , and I thought I'd take a look at their musical preferences, to see who the most popular role models were.
It's far from a scientific survey, since some contestants submitted a raft of names for favorite male and female singes, while others named just one. But here are the standings:
Male singer: Stevie Wonder wins in a landslide, named by 14 contestants. Nice testatment to his continuing high reputation.
