I'm a Viewer, Get Me Out of Here!

Is anybody still watching I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!?

Seriously, this show was mildly entertaining on Monday night when it began, but I think even the most casual viewer can see that they are just making things up as they go along. I didn't watch last night - 2 nights were enough for me - and although it really doesn't mean squat to me anymore, I'm hearing that last night's live portion of the show ended with the celebs taking a vote on whether or not the Bratts, er, Pratts (Heidi & Spencer) could return to the show after making what was probably their 27th exit in the first 2 episodes.

I have a major problem with this. These two act all high and mighty and think they are a couple of A-List celebs thrown in with some E-listers. They think they don't deserve to deal with such hardships (it's a jungle, hello!). Then they leave moments before a public vote is taken to see which of the remaining women will have to leave. This little maneuver of Speidi's removed Heidi from the risk of elimination (Patti B had already been saved by the men's team). Now that the public vote was taken, they want to come back? Bull Doggie Snot! If they get back onto the show, whichever woman that gets eliminated is going to have a legitimate beef with the way things are being allowed to run.

Now, that said, in the two nights that I did watch the show, I have to say I'm very impressed with Sanjaya Malakar (American Idol Season 6 contestant) and Patti B (wife of impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich) and how they've handled themselves. Sanjaya pretty much goes with the flow and I don't think he's complained once, even after he has been denied a bed twice. When I heard Patti was going to be on the show (her husband was the one NBC wanted, but the Feds wouldn't let him leave the country), I thought we would see some whiny, spoiled, aristocrat. But she has been nothing like that and lasted longer in the trauma tank Monday night than most of the other women.

Other thoughts? Post in the comments below...

This One's for All the Marbles...

Here it is Dawg...4 months in the making, countless hours of bad auditions, 30 minutes of fame for Bikini Girl, more bird impersonations than I ever cared to hear, annoying laughter and crying (aka Tatiana), Norman Gentle, and weeks of suspense wondering just who would be going home and whether or not the judges' save would be used.

Tonight its the whole enchilada...Tonight, an American Idol is crowned.

Mikaela Gordon covers the happenings from Conway, AR and Carly Smithson is hanging out in San Diego, CA.

No major summary, but here are a few of my favorite moments...

The top 12, er 13, singing So What. Ok, it wasn't great, but it wasn't lip synched that I could tell. (Don't burst my bubble, ok?)

Kara DioGuardi singing with Bikini Girl, then showing the world that she too can look good in a bikini

Adam's performance of Beth by KISS, but where the hell did he get those platform shoes?

David Cook surprising Adam & Kris with their new Ford Fusions

Celebs singing WITH the Idols:

Queen Latifah & Lil Rounds
Jason Mraz w/Alexis and Anoop
Keith Urban & Kris Allen (great job whoever paired these 2 together!)
Fergie w/the 5 women finalists, then joined by the Black Eyed Peas)
Cyndi Lauper & Allison Iraheta (lovin' the dulcimer)
Lionel Richie & Danny Gokey
KISS & Adam Lambert (ok, one of my personal favorites tonight)
Carlos Santana w/the top 13
Steve Martin w/Michael Sarver and Megan Joy Corkery
Queen w/Adam & Kris


The return of:

David Cook
Nick Mitchell/Norman Gentle
Katrina Darrell/Bikini Girl
Kimberly Locke sighting
Carrie Underwood sighting
Rueben Studdard sighting
Bo Bice sighting
Justin Guarini sighting



Things I could have done without:

Golden Idol Awards (ok, bringing back Norman Gentle was a plus, as was Bikini Girl)
Someone went Boom Boom Pow on the graphics switcher during the Black Eyed Peas' performance
A replay of Kara throwing down with Bikini Girl, Katrina Darrell
Being reminded of Adam's Ring of Fire (although Simon paraphrasing Randy Travis into "What the Hell was that?"
The Ford commercial, since it was just a rehash of all the other Ford Failures from this season.
Rod Stewart by himself. What's up with not including the idols like all the other celebs tonight?
Tatiana's 4th performance of Saving All My Love

Saving the best for last, the one thing that this whole crazy season has been for...the results.

Over 100 million votes cast...

The season 8 American Idol is....

KRIS ALLEN

Bring it On

And then there were two...

Adam vs Kris

Kris vs Adam

Southern California vs Central Arkansas

Thing 1 vs ... nah, that's not fair...

However you look at it, regardless of your personal preferences I think it is truly anybody's ballgame. Well, maybe not Danny's or Allison's or any of the previously eliminated constestants. But for as popular and pimped as Adam has been all season, Kris came into the competition as a relatively unknown "Dark Horse" and surpassed a lot of expectations as the season progressed. A week ago I figured tonight would be just going through the paces because Adam has been so strong all season long. Kris spent more than one week in the bottom 3, I think, and Adam, although it was likely for suspense purposes only, did spend only one week there.

Again, Idol has chosen to fall back on having both contestants perform the same "coronation" song, No Boundaries, written by Judge Kara. I thought maybe they had given up on that after Jordin & Blake battled with This is My Now back in season 6. In Season 7, the Deuling Davids didn't have to give separate versions of such a song, but we did get to hear David Cook's song following the announcement of his win.

Performances tonight as a whole:


Adam

Contestant's choice song: Mad World
Simon Fuller's choice song: Change is Gonna Come
Coronation Song: No Boundaries

For Adam starting off tonight, it was like a flashback to Melinda Doolittle. Week after week Adam has brought it, so while I know his fans will love it, I wonder if the average viewer isn't a bit de-sensitized to him now. While technically perfect, I have to hope that Adam is planning something spectacular later in his next performance.

And he did. His second song, an R&B song from Sam Cooke, was just spectacular. He went high, but reigned it in just enough to keep it from getting out of control. NOt something I would have expected him to do, but it was just another challenge and genre that Adam shows he can handle.

The coronation song was performed true to Adam's style, lots of high notes, but nothing really screechy, not over the top in any way, but something I can imagine being played on the radio. Simon chose to ignore the final song and not judge it, instead he unabashedly proclaimed Adam the champion that the show hopes to find each year.


Kris

Contestant's choice song: Ain't No Sunshine
Simon Fuller's choice song: What's Goin On
Coronation Song: No Boundaries

When Kris did his first song tonight, he sounded different. Not so much in his voice, but he just sounded so relaxed and at ease. Randy called it, it was one of his best performances. Simon gives "round 1" to Kris.

When I saw the song title for Kris' second song, the only version I could think of was 4 Non Blondes. Thank God that wasn't the version he was singing! I thought it was true to Kris' style and very well done. Randy's criticism seemed a little unfair because Kris didn't pick the song. Kudos to Kara for reminding everyone that Mr Fuller picked it. Simon thought it was too lite and laid back and not fitting for this stage of the competition and gives Round 2 to Adam. What would this show be without a little suspense?

The coronation song for Kris is difficult to comment on because we just heard it done by Adam. The critique can't go well for him, but I can picture Kris' version being played on country radio. I think it sucks that the judges seem to be writing him off after that performance, basically a "thanks for playing" attitude. Me personally, I liked Kris' version better but then again I like country over male high pitched pop/rock music.


Final Comments:

Wow - is that it? The final competition performances for season 8? We still have Carrie Underwood to come tonight singing Home Sweet Home, and I can listen to her sing all night long...

Wait, where was I? Oh yeah, final comments...On the season, I will agree with Simon when he basically said that Adam was the one who consistently brought it week after week. Kris was someone who first came in a bit unsure and really I don't remember his audition or his hollywood performances. Kris hung in there every week and survived despite a few bottom 3 appearances I'm sure he'd like to forget. Had he been voted off during the season, I don't think the judges would have used the save on him.

Tonight, the person who gave best performance will undoubtedly depend on who you talk to. I preferred Kris and I will cast one vote tonight for him. In the overall scheme of things it may not matter, so anyone who cast two votes for Adam will quickly cancel mine out. But Adam has his strong fan base and Kris has his. I think its safe to say that Adam's is probably a bit stronger, so I think what will decide the winner this week will depend a lot on the direction taken by Danny Gokey's fans. How will they divide their support among Adam & Kris?

Last season, the judges declared Archuleta the winner based on the peformances on Tuesday night. But a funny thing happened when all the votes were counted and announced on Wednesday night. More votes went to the bartender/rocker than did the high school crooner. Archie's fans were mostly teen age girls and while their voting power was able to carry him to the finals, teens and tweens have bed times and were not able to keep voting for the full 4 hours after the performance show ended. Cookie's fans however were mostly older, college-aged, bar-going people who probably made a regular habit of staying up til all hours of the night. Staying up and voting and voting and voting was not an issue for them.

I can see a possible situation this year as well with Adam & Kris. Adam has the teen vote locked up, but Kris is a 23 year old college student....see where I'm going with this? The pair has also been compared to Elvis vs Pat Boone in a recent Newsweek article, with Adam assuming the role of the King and Kris being the more toned down and parental-friendly Boone. Elvis put a lot of folks off before he hit it big, and Adam just might have the same effect on adults today.

But this isn't the 50's anymore and society is much more diverse. Will Adam's adult fans pick up the slack tonight? Will Kris pull off the "upset"?

We'll find out tomorrow...

American Idol Season 8 - Finally...

Today, I will give you my reasons why either finalist can win the title of Season 8 American Idol


Why Adam Lambert Will Win

Let's face it. Adam has many factors in his corner. He has had the support of the judges all season long. He has experience in musical theatre. He is a showman, a true performer. He knows his vocal range, he has power and he can tone it down when he has to. And he is not afraid to take a chance and try something different. I mean, come on...using a sitar during country music week? Really? Depending on who you talk to, it was either brilliant or a descent into the bowels of hell. Adam is not a bad singer, my only complaint about him is that he spends too much time screeching out those powerful high notes of his. When he does that, he reminds me of two people: Axl Rose (Guns & Roses) and the lead singer of Rush (sorry, I'm too lazy to look that up right now). Both of those people have voices that grate on my nerves yet they have had very successful careers. For the life of me, I don't know why Axl would be allowed back in St Louis after his tumultuous appearances there and his now infamous liner notes ("Fuck You, St. Louis!") but they still love him.


Why Kris Allen Will Win

Kris is like a breath of fresh air. He didn't get a lot of air time in the early audition rounds or during hollywood week. In fact, I think when the top 36 was announced I thought he was just another face in the crowd and wouldn't last long. During country week, I claimed that he was "Cookie Cutter Country", meaning that singers like him in country music come a dime a dozen. But Kris has held his own each week, going up against more talented performers and surviving to compete another week. He has met the challenge each and every week, giving us enough to survive. In the top 3 performances, Kris' stripped-down version of Heartless was truly brilliant and reminded me a little of David Cook and a little of Jason Castro from season 7. It was also about as close as we've come to an "Idol Moment" all season long.


But What About the Voters?

According to Yahoo, Kris, a college-student from Conway, Arkansas, is a favorite among teenage girls. So was David Archuleta if you'll remember right, and teenage girls have bedtimes that can interfere with voting time on a Tuesday night. There was a school of thought last year that this may have been what cost Archie the crown. I think there is no middle of the road where Adam is concerned. You either love him or you hate him. With Kris splitting votes last week with Danny Gokey, we have to wonder where Danny's supporters will turn this week? Will Adam pick them up or will they flock to Kris?

Prediction?

Realizing that this is being written and posted prior to Tuesday night's finale, I think that a lot of voters already have their minds made up. Some will wait and let their decision hinge on the Tuesday performances, but I think the truly hardcore fans have decided. Adam is the better performer and entertainer, while Kris is probably the more "parental-pleasing" choice.

Winner: Adam

Overture....hit the lights...

Expected to appear on Wednesday night Idol finale so far are:

Season 7 winner David Cook, Lionel Richie, Carlos Santana, Cyndi Lauper, Queen Latifah, the Black Eyed Peas and Keith Urban.

If I hear any more names, I will be sure to post them. While Carrie Underwood will be performing on Tuesday night, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see her or other previous winners performing on Wednesday night as well. I'm sure there will be a lot of surprise appearances also, as FOX has been known to do in the past.

Idol Guest Spoiler for Tuesday's Performance Finale

So, I downloaded a new (free) app for my iPod Touch, American Idol Lite, and it gives news and video updates of what's going on in the world of American Idol. In tonight's news, I've learned that Carrie Underwood will be appearing on Tuesday night's show singing this season's elimination song, Home Sweet Home.

Cool :)

Adam Lambert's "streaker" - not so much

For the Adam Lambert fans out there, enjoy.... for the streaking female fans out there....well, better luck next time, although she does make an appearance after his song.

Three's a Crowd

So what did I like about tonight's results show?

Actually, this time around I think it was all the little surprises the show offered. The results were almost anti-climactic.

Ryan Seacrest injured in a horrible bikini waxing incident?? Say what?? The Idol Desk will be in the Smithsonian? What the hell?

Thanks to Ben Stiller, we might have never known...

Oh wait, it's just a movie promo for Night at the Smithsonian with Ben, Bill Hader, Hank Azaria, and Jonah Hill.

The Ford commercial was good, in fact, I have to say this one is the best one of the season as it is done to Break My Stride (Matthew Wilder). Maybe it's the animation? Hell, of course it is!

Alicia Keys makes a guest appearance talking about more Idol Gives Back stuff. Ah, yes you can text and donate $5! Guest performance from a Rwandan performer, Noah. Wonder if the judges will offer a critique? Nope.

Allison, Scott, and Anoop are in the audience...

Ryan acts as if he's about to start the results and calls Danny to the stage. Now we get to see the footage of Danny's trip home to Milwaukee. He got to hang with his friend and fellow contestant Jamar. THIS is what I had hoped to see last night, but they just didn't have the time. Afterward, Danny gets his review from Ryan and is asked to take a seat on the couch while Kris is called out to the stage. Now its time to for Kris' trip back home to Conway, Arkansas where he is the proud recipient of free cheese dip for life! Just in case you were wondering, Conway is 186 miles from West Plains, MO (which is where my dad and youngest sister lives), about a 3 1/2 hour drive. That would make it a 7 hour drive from here in Columbia. Review time for Kris now before he too takes a seat on the couch.

Jordin Sparks is back to perform her new single, Battlefield. It's gonna be fun traumatizing the kids while I sing along to the radio when its on.

Back to the reviews as Ryan calls Adam Lambert to the stage. Adam talks about his trip to San Diego. Apparently Adam got a VERY warm welcome as a woman took her top off and ran up to the stage to show her, um, appreciation (yeah, that's a good word). Let's see, Kris gets cheese dip for life and Adam gets a female streaker. And she was hot too! On to Adam's review and he too is sent over to the couch after Ryan reminds him that the judges all agreed that he belongs in the finals.

Back from the commercial break and Ryan teases us again with the results one more time before announcing that we will have that AFTER a performance from Katy Perry. Wearing a red and white cape with Adam's name stitched on it. And oh yeah, she's hot too. This is the first time I've seen her perform and wow...Oh, she was singing her new song, Waking Up in Vegas.

Finally, we are back again for the announcement of the final 2....

And moving on is Adam and....Kris. The journey ends for Danny Gokey.

Next week is going to be a whirlwind for me....final contest performances on Tuesday, another (hopefully) outstanding results show and then its off to Indiana for my birthday! Simon says the finals next week have the potential to be a big ding dong. I don't even want to know what that might mean!

Three...is the magic number

Wow, are we really down to the final 3? And Clive Davis did NOT pick a song for the contestants this year? With 2 songs each tonight, should be a quick nite.

I have to admit, I was strangely disappointed by the lack of footage from the contestant's trips back home.

Danny's Judges Choice Dance Little Sister by Terrance Trent Darby, chosen by Paula certainly got off to a great start. Should someone tell Kara this isn't "So You Think You Can Dance"?

I thought Kara might be the odd judge out tonight, but no, she helped Randy pick Kris' song tonight - Apologize by OneRepublic. I didn't recognize this song by name, but once Kris got started I had one of those "lightbulb" moments. You know...where someone flipped the switch inside my brain. Which is probably a good thing because I kinda like the song, and while Kris didn't technically do anything wrong with it, it didn't make me want to applaud as much as the studio audience did. Gotta admit though, I kinda like the way Simon stood up for Kris during the reviews.

Adam is doing One by U2, chosen by Simon. Not posessing a vagina, I don't get a lot of the fuss over Adam Lambert. But, despite a few experiments gone horribly horribly wrong (Ring of Fire), this was another great performance for Adam.

So, it looks like in the race to be Adam's opponent next week in the finale, in my opinion, is currently being lead by Danny by a fraction of a percent. How will round two go tonight? Lets see...

Looks like we couldn't go a whole season without discussing Idol Gives Back. Ryan brings up the fundraising show and how much has been raised and we are shown footage of Exon Mobile sending a past Idol winner to Angola - Carrie Underwood :)

Danny is up again for the Performer's Choice song and Danny has chosen You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker. He's got the chops for this one, can he keep it interesting and turn it into an Idol "moment"? He makes a valiant effort at hitting a high note early. I like this performance for him. It doesn't seem to carry the same pizazz that we felt when Kat McPhee did Somewhere Over the Rainbow a few years ago. The judges liked it as well.

Kris is going to sing Heartless by Kanye West. Oh dear Lord. The arrangement is stripped down, just Kris and the guitar, no vocal synthesizer, no reminders of Gay Fish. I have to say I am very pleasantly surprised with this one. Who gets in tomorrow night now is anybody's guess.

Adam closes things out tonight with Cryin by Aerosmith, says he wants to do Steven Tyler proud. I'm really looking forward to this one. I'm finding that I much prefer Adam's performances when he rocks out and doesn't get all weird on us. This song, in my opinion is better than his earlier song was.

OK...so who's in the top 2? So barring a complete voter breakdown tonight, Adam is in the finals. The real question should be who will join him. Kris and Danny will split a lot of votes, and I think if voters base their vote on the body of work for the season, then Danny will make the finals. If they base their vote on tonight alone, then Kris could sneak in on the merits of Heartless alone.

So...my top 2 is Adam & Danny. But I can live with Adam & Kris.

Rockin' Pneumonia & The Boogie Woogie Flu

Over 64 Million votes cast...

Did enough people show Adam a Whole Lotta Love? Will Danny be left to Dream On? Will Allison become a Cry Baby? Will it all Come Together for Kris? We'll find out tonight because THIS is American Idol!

The Ford commercial is inconsequential anymore so lets dive into the group song as guest Mentor Slash joins the final 4 on stage for their rendition of School's Out by Alice Cooper. (God, now I'm going to have to try to find Rock & Roll High School and watch it again!)

Paula performs on the idol stage for the first time ever. I suppose they could have just played a video again like last year because it seemed to me like she was lipsynching.

No Doubt eats up more time with their performance of Just a Girl. Oh look...Gwen Stefani can do push ups!

Results time...almost. First its a look back at previous top 3 performers making their promo trip back to their respective hometowns. One by one, we'll find out who made the top 3.

First of course, Ryan has to stall by recapping the judges comments for all 4 finalists. With that out of the way, Ryan sends Kris over to the chairs of safety and the Top 3.

Daughtry comes out to perform on the anniversary of his ousting from the competition, singing his new song "It's No Surprise". Good song, I'm betting it will do well. And congrats on his debut album selling over 5 million copies! Nice plaque :)

Back to the results now and Ryan sends Adam over to take a seat in the top 3. As Daughtry had just sang, it's no surprise.

Finally, the 3rd seat is to be filled by....Danny. Allison is sent home.

And so the field is set to determine the two finalists. Only 2 songs next week, the judges' pick and the contestants' pick. No Clive Davis pick this year.

Adam-Danny? Adam-Kris? Danny-Kris?

We shall find out next week...

Alright...who hit the high note?

Before Idol started tonight, I heard about the accident on the stage and like a lot of other idol fans I was searching for information on the net and found it slow in coming. My initial guess was did Adam's high notes shatter all the glass?? All kidding aside, it was learned that one of the towers on stage collapsed and dress rehearsal had to be cancelled. According to some sources, a stage manager was injured in the accident and had to be taken to the hospital via ambulance.

So tonight we have the final 4 performing, PLUS the addition of a pair of duets! Should be an interesting night!

Adam - Whole Lotta Love (Led Zepelin) - I had hoped Adam would do Dream On when this theme was announced, but I think he picked a better one in this song. He's got the range to pull it off, but I can't help but wonder if Simon will use the "K" word? Is Paula holding up a cigarette lighter? Nope, he called it is favorite and said no one can top that and he is performing first tonight!

Allison - Cry Baby (Janis Joplin) - the teen rocker is sporting a new rocker hairstyle courtesy of Adam's hairdresser. As for vocals tonight, Adam seems to have set the bar pretty high, but tonight is also Allison's genre as well, and she seems to be holding her own. The judges weren't too crazy about song choice, but our feisty 17 year old argues back her reasoning.

After the break, its the first duet performance of the night, Kris and Danny sing Renegade by Styx. Love the song, but I wish they had gotten a chance to dress rehearse and clean up the rough edges. Still, it was a pretty good performance. I agree with Randy, the harmony was great.

Kris - Come Together (Beatles) - I guess playing with Slash is enough to make you wet yourself. Sorry Kris, even I think some things are TMI. I don't know about this one though, something just doesn't sound right, its almost if he's messing with the timing or something. Maybe he was still a little "up" from the duet? I don't know.

Danny - Dream On (Aerosmith) - Well, well, well....I thought this would be a good song for Adam, but for Danny - not so much. I fear the trainwreck potential. The session with Slash didn't seem so bad and the actual performance actually starts off quite nice. Can he hit the money note? By George I think he got it! I liked it, despite what the judges said.

Our second duet of the night features Allison and Adam doing Slow Ride by Foghat. Song wise, I prefer the first duet, but performance wise, I think Adam/Allison did a much better job.

So how will the results go? Well, I think we'll have a bottom 3 of Danny, Kris, and Allison. Adam by far was the best of the night. I predict however that the bottom 2 will come down to Kris and Allison and I'll base my choice for who leaves on the final duet performance of the night. Allison is safe, Kris will go home.

Idol Semi-Shocker (Don't Read if you Don't Want to Know!)

Who will get RATTED out? Which contestant will PACK it in? We'll find out tonight on American Idol! (I wish they'd pay me to write this stuff...)

The rain storms are just moving into the area so I'm waiting for our cable to go out. Of course it does, then my internet and phone will be out too, so lets hope for the best.

I've made a habit of checking in with Dial Idol each week to see how they call things and lo and behold, their predictions list the finishing order identical to what I did last night which means...anyone could go home.

Ford commercials have officially lost their appeal with me. What, did they hire the writer guys who almost ruined Heroes to come up with the Ford ideas? Bring back the Muppet commercial from Season 4! Good God, its getting to where I'm looking forward to the group lipsynch, er, song more than the Ford commercial!

Gotta give props to Danny's $6000 cleaning bill for the mess the group made at the Idol mansion. Speaking of, that segment looked kinda fun; gives me a few ideas actually. Wonder if there was a group shower afterward?

OK, results time....All 5 idols take the stage and Matt is sent to stage right while Danny is sent to stage left. Allison joins Danny, while Kris joins Matt. Adam gets his recap from Ryan and then asked to pick which group he thinks he belongs in. Adam picks Allison and Danny, and walks over to join them. Ryan says, THIS is NOT your bottom 3, then ushers Adam over to Matt and Kris and says THIS is your bottom 3.

Millions of women are now staring at their tv screens in disbelief.

Natalie Cole performance. I've heard past songs from her and she has sounded great in the past, but to quote Simon, she is sounding a lot like a lounge singer in a hotel somewhere.

Season 5 champ Taylor Hicks is sounding great; love the song :)

Time to send someone back to safety from the bottom 3 and going back to the couch is....Kris.

Millions of women have now just shit themselves simultaneously.

Jamie Foxx gets his turn at the mic now singing Gay Fish, er, Blame It. Sorry, it just sounded a lot like a song from South Park a few weeks ago. Does he agree with America's voting? Did America get it right? Jamie says it doesn't matter now because what is important now is the journey after Idol and it is time to make it happen and also he has a new movie out. Way to deflect, Jamie.

So how bad would it be for Matt to go home on the night of his best musical genre? How many women will refuse to watch any more Idol if Adam leaves. Memories of Chris Daughtry's exit, perhaps?

Without further delay, Ryan tells Adam that he is safe. Matt's luck has run out.

Millions of women have just collapsed with a huge sigh of relief.

Next week: Rock n Roll for the Final 4, and the special guest (mentor?? I'm a bit confused) is Slash. Yes, that Slash. Should be interesting.

American Idol Potential Spoiler - Who's Going Home?

Given Dial Idol's propensity for being off the mark the past few weeks, it may be safe to say that my predictions last night are way off base. But then again...

Dial Idol has predicted the order of finish this week as 100% identical to my prediction last night as well. Which means, if correct, it will be Matt Giraud going home tonight.

Oh, they also had Danny above Adam too. :)

We should know in about 8 hours or so...

American Idol Top 7 Elimination - Part Deux

Well, Dial Idol has done its part to put a little drama in tonight's elimination show. Thanks to the save of Matt Giraud last week, 2 people will go home tonight. That's 28% of this week's contestants if you're keeping track. After last night's performance show, the choices seemed rather cut and dried. But maybe not...

The open collars and chains around the neck make an appearance for disco week finally; they were conspicuously absent last night (not necessarily missed though, lol!) and for the group song its painfully obvious that the lipsynching is back and in rather poor form too. On the plus side, Paula did teach the 7 some moves and I'm looking forward to reading Tammy's post tonight too, if she ever recovers from watching Adam perform said moves.

Results...

Lil Rounds is the first one pulled off the couch tonight and the first of two to be sent home tonight :) So much for Dial Idol's "prediction"!

Music time again for guest performers Freda Payne (Band of Gold), Thelma Houston (Don't Leave Me This Way), and KC of KC & the Sunshine Band (Get Down Tonight). Entertaining, yet I'm kinda glad its over. I just noticed that KC kinda looks like the singer Meatloaf. Now THERE would be a guest mentor and theme week: The songs of Meatloaf! Paradise by the Dashboard Light would make a great group song, but with Allison being the only female left, and being only 16, I could see some issues being taken with that. But then again, Flo Rida was on recently and did his song Right Round, which is nothing more than a tribute to oral sex.

The results return...

Kris, Adam, and Danny are safe. Anoop takes a stool in the bottom 3, leaving Matt & Allison left for the final spot in the bottom. Allison moves to the bottom 3, as America's impression of Matt has improved over last week.

Back to the show and a guest performance from David Archuleta.

Back to the results and tonight's final elimination sends Anoop home.

This leaves a top 5 of Adam, Danny, Kris, Matt, and Allison to set up for whatever theme gets thrown at them. I missed Ryan's closing due to the crashing clanging sounds my sons tend to make whenever I need them to be quiet. Come on, I've paid my penance for my teenage years, haven't I???

Welcome to the Donna Summer Tribute Concert! (AKA Disco Week at the American Idol Top 7 Performance Show)

No save this week, 2 are going home. Who has the "balls" to survive Disco Week?

Wasting no time, the performances start. Let's divide tonight's performances into two groups:

Disco Inferno (On Fire, Hot Stuff, well, you get the idea):

Kris Allen - She Works Hard for the Money (Donna Summer) - Not a big fan of Kris, but gotta say this is the best I've heard from him all season. Took a completely different approach to the song and reminded me a little of Jason Castro with it. Sounded great to me. He won't see the bottom 3 this week.

Danny Gokey - September (Earth Wind and Fire) - OK, Danny has been sounding so much better the last couple weeks after breaking away from the country songs. Yes he's versatile, but he is more rocker than country boy. This song was a perfect example, too. Safe, safe, safe...

Allison Iraheta - Hot Stuff (Donna Summer) - She's still under 18, right? You wouldn't know it by this performance. Great opening, I thought it was great start to finish; Kinda like Billie Jean for David Cook last year, she could have a hit with that song today.

Adam Lambert - If I Can't Have You (Yvonne Elliman) - from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, Adam is going with a look that has served him well lately. As for the song, well...it had its moments. In fact I thought it started out great and like everything else he does, he made it his own. There is only one thing I wish he hadn't done and that was that high-pitched shrill note that he hit towards the end.



Disco Ducks (Quack, Quack):

Lil Rounds - I'm Every Woman (Chaka Khan) - No, she isn't. Thank goodness.

Matt Giraud - Staying Alive (Bee Gees) - Appropriate song choice after being saved last week by the judges. Good rythym, good vocals, but 10 to 1 Paula tells him how good he looks first. It was a'ight, but too many better performances tonight to make it to the top of the list. Is it enough to avoid being one of the two sent home this week?

Anoop Desai - Dim All the Lights (Donna Summer) - Anoop has a good voice, but this song seemed to fall by the wayside for me, borderline boring. I hate to see it, but Anoop may have just saved Matt from elimination.



Until tomorrow...

American Idol Top 7: Now Playing...(Don't read if you don't want to know how it went!)

Top 7 - "Songs from the Cinema"

Guest celebrity - Quentin Tarrentino

Judges will only be speaking 2 at a time; I see this as a good thing; the show will move a little quicker and we won't be subjected to quite as much fluff.

Apparently, Tarrention has been here before, back in season 3. But I don't vote based on the opinions of judges and guests, I vote for who I think did the best. With that...here's my not-so-humble opinion.


Allison Iraheta - “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing - Aerosmith. I love this song. I prefer the country version, but this isn't bad. Allison picked one tonight that suited her style, I think. Top 3 performance tonight.

Anoop Desai - “Everything I Do” by Bryan Adams. (although the Stewie Griffin version was pretty cool too). Tarrentino advised him to "rough it up". I disagree, but lets see what the Noop Dawg does. Not bad, not bad; but I think Stewie's was better. Borderline top 3 tonight.

Adam Lambert - “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf. Hearing that he was going to do this song, I picture him riding out on stage on a motorcycle.No motorcycle, but Adam quickly takes control of the stage. Millions of women are just wondering if they hit menopause early, thanks to all the hot flashes taking over. Simon has a point with how one segment of the audience will love it, another segment will despise it. I despised his version of Ring of Fire back in country week, so yeah. But still, easily one of tonight's top 3.

Matt Giraud - “To Really Love a Woman” by Bryan Adams. Yawn. Sounds like something I would hear in a piano bar. Matt can go bye-bye now.

Danny Gokey - “Endless Love” by Diana Ross. 1st thought: this could be trouble for him, but in spots, I could almost pick up a little Joe Cocker. Much better performance than it could have been. Best performance from him in several weeks.

Kris Allen - “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard. I have never heard this song before. Never heard of the movie it came from. Had to look it up on YouTube. Potential snoozefest here. Yup. Not his best work.

Lil Rounds - “The Rose” by Bette Midler. So which do we get tonight? The Lil Rounds who wowed us in the beginning? or the Lil Rounds who has been slowly slipping away as a copycat artist (whom we would all LOVE if were at karaoke night, btw). I heard this song many times as a karaoke host, and I think my favorite performance so far was on an episode of Family Guy, by Peter and the rest of the family (minus Stewie). Lil has chosen to put more of a gospel flair into this song and its a wonderful change from her performances over the past few weeks.

So...my bottom 3 tonight is a tough call, but I'll say its Matt, Kris, Lil. Based on tonight's performance, I don't think Lil deserves to go home just yet, but I'm guessing it may come down to Matt and Lil.

American Idol Top 7 Song Spoilers

Idol Song Spoilers (Courtesy of Idolbloglive.com)



Seriously, don't read any further if you don't want to know!






Allison Iraheta - “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing - Aerosmith
Anoop Desai - “Everything I Do” by Bryan Adams
Adam Lambert - “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf
Matt Giraud - “To Really Love a Woman” by Bryan Adams
Danny Gokey - “Endless Love” by Diana Ross
Kris Allen - “Falling Slowly”
Lil Rounds - “The Rose” by Bette Midler

This was the performance order during dress rehearsal.

Discuss amongst yourselves or comment below :)

Calimari, Anyone?

American Idol Top 8 Elimination

At the top of the charts the year Simon was born - Venus by Frankie Avalon, who graces the Idol stage as he performs the song for the audience. That was a cool and surprising opening. I think I would have preferred Beauty School Dropout though.

Ryan and Frankie are twins? who knew?

Lip-synching Can't Get You Out of my Head, the Top 8 do their group performance of a song from the year Idol was born (2002)

The behind the scenes segment of the Ford commercial shoot shows that Anoop may have a backup career lined up...(ohh..yes he did!)

Mario Lopez is in the crowd tonight, along with the mayor of Kalamazoo, MI. Wow, the stars are out tonight!

OK, results time....

Adam, Kris, and Anoop are the first 3 to stand. Adam is the first to take a seat, he is safe. Kris and Anoop get their review recaps, and Anoop is sent to the bottom 3, Kris is safe.

Flo Rida is performing his single Right Round. I have to agree with Tammy, he ruined a perfectly good song. At least the screen isn't scrolling his cell phone number across it.

Back to results...

Danny is safe, Matt is also safe. Let me add here that Ryan's psych outs are getting really old and really bad! Scott is next and he is in the bottom 3. Allison and Lil are left. Allison is safe, Lil is in the bottom 3.

Kellie Pickler (Pickles!) is on stage now singing Best Days of Your Life...pardon me while I ogle...It wasn't all that long ago when she had a seat on that couch and was eliminated after acknowledging herself that she butchered her song. She has come such a long long way since then and she looks and sounds great.

Bottom 3 is back out on center stage as Lil is sent back to the safety of the couch.

30,000 votes separated Anoop and Scott. Scott is eliminated tonight and the judges' save is in play as Scott does a reprise of The Search is Over. And the answer from the judges is....

No.

Kara and Paula fought for him, but Simon and Randy weren't convinced. And since the decision must be unanimous, a no was the only way to go. I liked Scott, but truthfully, I don't think he was a strong enough performer to win the competition. He will be on the tour, and I believe he will have a respectable career in music. And he won't have to wear the faux hawk to reflect his punk side either.

Til next week...

Idol Top 8 Performances (Don't read if you don't wanna know!)

Songs from the year they were born...

The Good --

Adam Lambert - 1982 & Mad World - In a manner becoming of Adam, he made this song his own and gets a standing ovation from Simon. Great style and composure, calm cool collected and intense all at once. Awesome performance for him tonight.

Allison Iraheta - 1992 & I Can't Make You Love Me - Should a 16 year old rocker chic really be singing the lines, Turn down the lights, turn down the bed? Doesn't matter I guess...I like her voice, I like her style, and I love the performance. Randy says she's one of the best of the night, and I agree.

Anoop Desai - 1986 & True Colors - So it turns out that the Noop Dawg shares a birthday with the reigning champ, David Cook. Too bad he doesn't share his vocal abilities as well. A little nasally I thought just before he went into the ending, but otherwise not too bad. Much better than last week.


The "It was just A'ight, Dawg" --

Danny Gokey - 1980 & Stand By Me (Mickey Gilley) - interesting, but the song definitely ended better than it started. Not bad, I guess...

Scott MacIntyre - 1985 & The Search is Over - A long forgotten song by Survivor, one of my favorites. And this performance tonight is one of my favorites tonight so far. Scott has a punk side? Who knew! Maybe next week, he'll come out wearing Sanjaya's Faux Hawk.


The "What the hell was I thinking?" --

Kris Allen - 1985 & All She Wants to Do is Dance - did not excite me at all. Tammy loved it, so he's probably safe.

Lil Rounds - 1984 & What's Love Got to Do With It - Well, I like it, but it seems a bit too much like the original. Dare I call it "Karaoke"? Paula started off with how Hot lil looked...can't be good...Yup, Paula used the "K" word too.

Matt Giraud - 1985 & Part Time Lover - Yawn. Wake me when he's done. WTF is up with the judges? Were we watching the same singer? They seemed kinda quick on the draw with all the kudos they gave him. Which tells me they were pimping him to be safe this week.

Who's going home? Wish it were Matt, but it won't be. Lil is certainly a candidate and she might pull the judges save if its her. Despite a good performance from Anoop, he could end up there as well. Guess we'll find out tomorrow night. Should be another good results show tomorrow, Kellie Pickler will be performing.

Platforms, Boos (no, not booze), Majestic Wingspans and ....Ah, ya know what, I just don't care.

Elimination Spoiler Below - Don't read if you haven't watched yet and don't want to know!



Megan is the first contestant I’ve ever seen smile big and wave when called out as one who should be concerned about leaving.

Ford commercial was the most creative I’ve seen in a while.

Group song…I liked it. I thought Allison seemed a little weak on her lines, but Kris, Megan, Anoop, Danny, and Adam all sounded great on theirs.

Idols imitating Idols….perhaps a new fox reality show?

OK, time to divide up the contestants into groups.

Group 1 – Matt, Megan, Kris
Group 2 – Adam, Lil, Allison
Group 3 – Anoop, Danny, Scott

Who is safe? Who is the bottom 3? Will Ryan pull one from each group? Why am I talking in questions? Who is Xavier Cougat? (sorry, I was channeling Drew Carey and Ryan Stiles for a moment)

At any rate, its time for a performance from the reigning American Idol, David Cook! Another great performance from him (I like that song Come Back to Me) and a platinum record presentation to boot! Congrats to David!

Back to the eliminations; its not a group of 3 safe or not grouping afterall.

Group 1 – Kris and Matt are safe. Megan flaps her wings and lands in the bottom 3.
Group 2 – Lil and Adam are safe, Allison moves to the bottom 3.
Group 3 – Danny and Scott are safe, Anoop is in the bottom 3.

While the 3 sit and wonder which one is leaving, Lady Gaga performs…what the hell is this? Men in Black meets Madonna? Is that a group Vogue up there?

So back to the bottom 3, let’s make it a bottom 2 by saving Allison. Good call!

Going home is Megan. A little late, perhaps, but I think she saw the writing on the wall. Allison gave her the Caw-Caw salute from the safety of the couch. She didn’t particularly care about the judges’ comments last night, so Simon rightfully returned the favor. And over the past 3 weeks now, Idol has eliminated 3 parents. Anyone left that has kids?

Next week’s theme: Songs from the year they were born.