From the Archives: Season 6 Diana Ross Week

So now here we are at Season 6. Unlike last year this season the themes were much more centered on the mentor brought in to teach the kids how to sing, which opened the door for me to start commenting on the mentors themselves. I was pretty easy on Diana Ross but others were not so lucky, as you'll see later on. Also new for Season 6 was Your 3 Stars of the Night, a feature that I borrowed from the NHL. To be honest, it's a stupid thing at a hockey game but somehow it works better when it's used to judge American Idol contestants.

From March 13, 2007:

It's that time of year again. Spring is in the air, March Madness looms over every office in the land (including mine, I just finished filling out my bracket), and the two American Idol tribes have once again merged into one to compete on one stage for the hearts and minds of America. The girls were the favorites going in, could they keep it up or could the boys take it to the next level now that they're on the big stage playing for the big stakes? And how may cliches can I fit into one paragraph? Oh yes, one more, let's go to the video tape.

This week's theme: The Songs of Diana Ross, with the original Diva herself giving out advice to the contestants.

Brandon, sang "You Can't Hurry Love": Dull and uninspiring at first, then he got caught up in the moment and forgot the lyrics. Not a good showing from someone already on shaky ground. To borrow a critique used by Simon Cowell in an earlier show, it sounded like something you'd hear on a cruise ship.

Melinda, sang "Home" from The Wiz: It was a little rushed at first, but she quickly recovered and made a strong impression at the end. Goosebumps all around. Technically she's the best singer in the competition by a country mile. She was the morning line favorite to win it all going in and did nothing to change that thinking. Indeed she may have enhanced it.

Chris S., sang "Endless Love": I didn't like his arrangement at all. It was clumsy and felt rushed. He's still got a good voice, even though he really didn't show it much tonight. He would have been better off singing the song straight, and this is coming from someone who's hated this song since I played it in my high school band.

Gina, sang "Love Child": It sounded alright at times, but not great. Perhaps not the best choice of song for the Designated Rocker. Her mannerisms were somewhat strange given the subject matter of the song. The lyrics demand almost an impassioned plea and she acted much more bland than that. Still, there were worse performances...

Sanjaya, sang "Ain't No Mountain High Enough": ...Speaking of which.... This song was way too big for his soft voice. You could barely hear him over the band. Thank goodness he didn't sing "Love Child". It was really, really weak. Sweet, but weak. Yet another hair style though. Some folks may vote for him anyway just to see what his hair will look like next week.

Haley, sang "Missing You": Of all 12 singers, she looked and sounded the least comfortable on the stage. The microphone covered her face for half the song and she apparently also forgot a lyric, though it wasn't as obvious as Brandon. Her performance had its moments though. While she may survive this week (when many predicted that she won't), she's going to have to get much more comfortable performing on that stage if she has any hopes of still being on the show after Easter.

Phil, sang "Make You Love Me": It thought it was a poor song choice for him. It was also pretty pitchy. He's still struggling on the low notes and still pushing too hard on the high ones. With all its problems it was probably the best performance by the guys tonight, though that's not saying much with these group of dudes.

LaKesha, sang "God Bless the Child": It was a little shaky at first, but I could actually hear her confidence grow as she sang the song. My goodness what a voice. She showed a lot of emotion while singing that song without allowing the emotion to overcome her. Thus far no one else has been able to strike that balance nearly as well.

Blake, sang "You Keep Me Hangin' On": No beat boxing this week. Instead he made some major tweaking to the arrangement to try and fit it into his style. It was only moderately successful. The arrangement was unique so he gets points for that, but his singing was once again weak and very pitchy. I don't know why the (other) judges seem to think he's such a good singer. I figured he was going to struggle on weeks where the theme doesn't fit well with his style of singing, which basically is every song done before Clinton was president.

Stephanie, sang "Love Hangover": Tweaking the arrangement didn't work for her either (what's wrong with Diana Ross' songs that so many of these contestants don't want to sing them straight?). Randy Jackson claimed she forgot a lyric but I couldn't tell if she did unlike Brandon and Haley, so I commend her professionalism. She also shouted part of it, which was much more noticeable. Not her best performance.

Chris R., sang "The Boss": Simon Cowell despised it but Randy Jackson and I thought it was pretty good. Not a strong vocal performance but he showed a lot of energy and emotion and was one of the few who actually looked comfortable on the stage. At least this performance sounded much less like a Justin Timberlake impression than his earlier performances have.

Jordin, sang "If We Hold On Together": She showed a strong stage presence for someone who's only 17 years old. It was pitchy in spots but strong in others, and she kept her emotions in check this time. While Melinda and LaKesha are still the favorites to win it all don't count this young lady out yet.

Your 3 Stars of the Night: Melinda, LaKesha, and Jordin. This may not be the last time that those 3 names are on this list.

The Fearless Prediction: There were lots of shaky performances tonight but only two that really stood out as being bad, Sanjaya and Brandon. Since Sanjaya has the support of Vote For The Worst.com, the same folks who kept Antonella Barba on the show for so long, my guess is that Brandon will be heading home tomorrow night. Me thinks he'll be the first of many guys that will be leaving the show over the next few weeks. The girls once again blew them away.