From the Archives: Season 6 Finale

For my final archive post I've added a special treat, not one, not two, but three videos. I should acknowledge that most of the videos are from the idollogy channel on You Tube. Hopefully You Tube will allow posting of Season 7 performances so that I can further enhance your reading experience.

Season 7 starts Tuesday night, and I still don't know how I will recap the audition shows. I guess I'll just figure it out as I go along. Story of my life in a way...

From May 22, 2007:

So here we are in the Kodak Theater yet again, and just like last year we have a girl who excels at ballads versus a guy with a gimmick, albeit a very good one, for the big bucks. I for one didn't think beat box boy would make it this far, but then as I mentioned last week, what the heck do I know?

Just like last year, each singer sings three songs: one of the singer's favorites, which will likely be a repeat performance from earlier this year, one they haven’t sung on the show before (now there’s a first!), the third a hokey song intended to be their first recorded single. Now, this year, perhaps in response to all the complaints about how bad the original songs have been in previous seasons, the Idol producers decided to stage a contest for songwriters to see which song would be sung tonight as the original song. The song will likely still be hokey, but now the producers will be able to find someone else to blame.

So how will the kids do on the biggest stage of their young and (in Jordin's case anyway) innocent lives? Let’s burn up some Jiffy Pop popcorn and find out.

(This leads me to wonder if either Jordin or Blake even knows what Jiffy Pop is)

The show starts by pointing out that both finalists came out of the Seattle audition, which was by all accounts the worst in the history of the show. That was the one with the guy Simon called "Monkey Baby" that got Rosie O'Donnell all ticked off. I wonder if the producers are now reconsidering returning to the Emerald City.

(With no mentor to bash there may be a lot of trashing the producers tonight, unless Paula says something wacky again)

Round 1
Blake: “You Give Love a Bad Name” by Bon Jovi, from Bon Jovi week
A repeat performance from the one that likely contributed the most to get him this far. It was about as good as the other performance was, but it just didn't seem quite as strong. I think a lot of my disappointment is because the surprise factor wasn't there this time. It also seemed a little rushed. Still, it wasn't bad. Paula of course thought it was the greatest thing ever, just like all the teenage girls in the audience.

Jordin: “Fighter” by Christina Aguilera
Jordin breaks tradition by doing the song she hadn't done before first. She also breaks with her normal routine and picks a song done after she was born. And here we all thought Blake was the adventurous one. I thought it was a really good song choice for her, especially since it wasn't obvious that it would be from the start. There was a little weak part in the middle, but the beginning and the end were really good. She's got the chops to compete with Ms. Aguilera, I'll give her that.

Simon gives Round 1 to Blake, Randy and Paula are non-committal as usual. I thought Jordin was better, but what the heck do I know?

One nice thing about this being the season finale is that I won’t be subjected to the AT&T “BFF Jill” ad as much any more. I will miss the Old Navy bikini ads though…

Round 2
Blake: “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5
While it’s the first time he’s done this song it’s the second time he’s done a Maroon 5 ditty. I’m going to use a word to describe this performance that I haven’t used in some time, “pitchy”. No beat boxing, which Randy and I both like, but for me it was just OK. He gets points for actually doing a singing number in the final, despite Simon’s comments to the contrary.

Jordin: “Broken Wing” by Martina McBride, from Country Week



This was the song she did on country night. Jordin's doing the songs in reverse order from Blake, pretty smart for a 17 year old. She oversold it at bit the last time she sang it but this performance was much more controlled while still sounding inspired. One of her best performances, which is saying something. It was really, really good. Only goose bump performance of the night.

Round 2 to me clearly goes to Jordin.

Round 3
Scott LeBay and Jeff Peabody are announced as the winners of the much ballyhooed Idol songwriting contest and get all of 2 seconds of screen time. Congrats boys, good luck getting those remaining 13 seconds of fame. Sure enough, it’s another sappy ballad titled “This is My Now”. So much for that experiment. I find it hard to believe that it took 2 guys to write this song.

Blake: The start of the song requires a lot of low notes that pitchy boy really struggles with. He does a little better, though a bit rushed, with the higher pitched chorus. He does look comfortable up there while performing it. He sounded way out of his element, though he didn't look it. Chris Richardson looks on with adoring eyes. The judges give it a lukewarm evaluation (yes, even Paula), and for once I agree with them. Advantage Jordin even before she sings a single note.

Jordin: She too struggles to get the low notes in pitch, but not as much as Blake did. She of course kicks butt on the rest of the song before breaking down in tears on the last two lines. In the past that may have hurt her but it may have actually helped her here. Melinda looks on, but her glance looks a little more menacing than Chris’ (could it be that she’s actually upset over getting voted off?). Simon gives us a naughty visual by saying that Jordin “wiped the floor with Blake”.

Round 3 goes to Jordin, though it was a little unfair.

Final Score: 3 shots at yours truly, 3 shots at Paula, 2 shots at the producers, 2 references to the “BFF Jill” ad. No Chris Daughtry references, but wait! Guess who's closing the show?! It’s Mr. Daughtry himself dawning some interesting eye shadow while singing “Home”. Somebody call Mom! (1/12/08: I found out later that she did see it)



Idol Looks Back: OK, here we go. For the longest time I thought about leaving this feature blank, but I've calmed down now. Both Randy and Simon claimed again tonight that American Idol is a singing competition, but that's as big a lie as "Mission Accomplished". Repeating that over and over doesn't make it true. If it were, then Sanjaya would have never even made it to the point where Howard Stern could campaign for him, and Melinda would not have been voted off last week. She was the best singer by a country mile this season, maybe even in the history of the show, but instead of performing the hokey song in the finale she has to watch it with Sanjaya and the rest of the losers. Sad, very sad, but what the heck do I know?

The Fearless Prediction: This one may be the closest call since the velvet teddy bear Ruben Stoddard barely beat out the ambiguously gay Clay Aiken in Season 2. Blake is the better performer and has a loyal army of teenage girls supporting him (if all those high pitched screams and “BFF Jill” ads are any indication), but it is clear that Jordin is the much better singer, and without having Melinda sucking votes away from her she’s got a much better chance to make it on top. So, even though it’s not really a singing competition I predict that the better singer, Jordin Sparks, will be the next American Idol. We’ll see if my faith in America can be restored after last week.

From the Archives: Season 6 Semi-Finals

I found out that my last post was listed on the web site http://melinda-doolittle.net/. I felt kind of honored even though it's an "unofficial" site. Seriously, it still upsets me that Melinda was voted off before the finals. Not only was she the best singer in the competition in Season 6, she was one of the best singers in the history of the show, only to be set aside in favor of a teenager and Beat Box Boy. In my humble opinion, she was robbed. Like Chris Daughtry before her I hope that she outsells everyone else from Season 6 and makes a ton of cash. She's too humble to want that for herself but if it counts for anything I want it for her.

So you can probably guess who the feature performer is this week.

From May 15, 2007:

We have reached the Final 3, or as Simon likes to call it, the “semi-finals”. The big challenge is having to sing not one, not two, but three songs, only one of which the semi-finalists get to choose. The other two are selected by the judges and by the producers. I guess Clive Davis, who has selected one song for the final 3 every season before this one, including last year sans Chris Daughtry, decided to take a pass this year. Since by contract he gets exclusive rights to sign all the American Idol finalists one has to wonder if Mr. Davis' absence means that he agrees with the complaints about this year's contestants not measuring up to year's past.

Without Clive there is no mentor this week, so Jordin, Blake, and Melinda are on their own. How did they fare without the expert guidance from the likes of Jennifer Lopez? Let’s dare to find out.

Glendale, Arizona’s Jordin: “Wishing on a Star” by Rolls Royce, selected by Simon
Jordin pulls out the above the knee blouse this week, reminiscent of former contestant Haley Scarnato. Remember her? Me neither, except for her legs. Pretty much the same performance we normally see from Jordin. Little over the top on the vocals, big note at the end, generally solid performance. I will say, though, that she has done better.

Bothell, Washington’s Blake: “Roxanne” by The Police, selected by Paula
They showed the crowd at Blake’s homecoming and I think there wasn't a single guy or woman over the age of 18 in the crowd. Paula is always good for odd song choices, just ask Elliot Yamin, who lost last year because Paula made him sing a crappy song (the sappy 70's tune "What We Won't Do For Love"). Sure enough she didn't disappoint. Beat box boy sung it mostly straight, probably because he couldn't think of why Paula chose this song for him either and thus couldn't figure out how to tweek it with his special gift. It was off key the whole time. Randy and Paula loved it for reasons that I cannot fathom. The crowd gets all over Simon for not calling it “fantastic”.

Nashville, Tennessee’s Melinda: “I Believe in You and Me” by Whitney Houston, selected by Randy



The judges routinely trash contestants who try and sing Whitney songs, then Randy goes and selects one for Melinda, so this ought to be interesting. Well, now we know why Randy chose this song. Key changes, rhythm changes, challenging vocals, and Melinda aced them all. Randy challenged her and she came through. Best of the night so far, and it’s not even close.

During Ryan’s recital of Melinda’s phone numbers Simon suddenly asks “are you drunk?” Ryan, apparently thinking he’s asking Paula, asks Simon, “are you looking at me?” then acts totally flummoxed by the question. No doubt we all are.

Jordin: “She Works Hard for the Money” by Donna Summer, chosen by the producers
Jordin reveals her favorite song is “Hmm Bop” by Hanson, and a groan emerges from the audience. Rightfully so. This is the third song from the Queen of Disco that’s been attempted this year, and the last two by Melinda and LaKesha were not impressive, so let’s see how Diva #3 handles it. This one was a little better than the other two as well as Jordin's earlier song, but it seemed a little flat to me, at least at the start. The now expected big finish worked a little better this time.

Blake: “This Love” by Maroon 5, chosen by the producers
This performance was like night and day compared to the last one, because the song choice was so much better for him. Nice arrangement and he mixed in a little beat boxing without over killing it. He even managed to stay in tune. Blake was “in the zone” as the kids used to say. His best performance since "I Need To Know" on Latin week. Paula says “I was hoping you would sing that.” So why, oh why, Ms. Abdul, did you not choose it for him?

Melinda: “Nutbush City Limits” by Ike & Tina Turner, selected by the producers
Boy, they are really laying down the gauntlet for Melinda tonight. First Randy asks her to sing Whitney Houston, now the producers challenge her to match Tina Turner. Is there a conspiracy to get her off the show? Neither Jordin nor Blake have had to sing anything even remotely as difficult. Once again she came through without another dazzling performance. Lots of soul in this one. I like what she did with the mike stand too, Tina must be proud.

Jordin's own selection: “I, Who Have Nothing” by Shirley Bassey
This was the song she hit out of the park during British Invasion week. She pretty much duplicates that performance again here. If anything it might have been a little better since she added a little more emotion this time. I would have liked her to challenge herself by picking another song, though. Simon whines about her being old fashioned again, and then Jordin rightfully questions why Simon chose a 70’s song for her if he had such a problem with her singing old songs. Pretty sharp for a 17 year old.

Blake’s own selection: “When I Get You Alone” by Robin Thicke
It started out sounding like Pat Boone singing Metallica, a white bread imitation of what should be a grittier song. Then he settles into a nice groove and does a good job with it. Good song choice, because it was a song that fit into his motif and was a song that only he could do, and it wasn't a song he had done before. It was about as good, maybe even slightly better, than the Maroon 5 song. I’m sure he’s glad the Paula Abdul song was the first one he had to sing since it’ll make it easier for everyone to forget about it.

Melinda’s own selection: “I’m a Woman” by Peggy Lee
This is the classic version that Melinda sung to get into the Top 12, not the Helen Reddy number that we've all since forgotten (oops, my mistake, I got the "a" and "m" in the wrong order, but it's too good a chance to trash Helen Reddy to delete it now). Now she’s challenging herself, and again she makes it work. I had forgotten how good she is at phrasing until this performance. Nice touch bringing out the backup singers. Probably the worst of her three performances tonight, but still better than anything either Blake or Jordin did.

Final Score: 4 digs at Paula Abdul (though I try to kiss and make up below), 2 digs at Simon Cowell, only 1 Chris Daughtry reference, and no insults for the mentor.

Your 3 Stars of the Night: Melinda, Melinda, and Melinda. She was that much better than the other two. Not that Jordin and Blake were bad, except for maybe Blake’s performance of “Roxanne”, but Melinda was just that good.

Idol Looks Back: No surprise that LaKesha got the boot last week, so there’s not much I can add to that. I looked back and saw that on March 27 I trashed Paula for declaring that Blake would make the finale, making the first of several comments about Paula’s sobriety. Now that Blake is one night away from the finals and after being called out for criticizing Barry Gibb last week, I have to ask, who am I to question the expertise of these folks? I have all summer and fall to contemplate that.

The Fearless Prediction: It would be a crime if Melinda is voted off now, so it’s down to Blake and Jordin. Both have positives and negatives going for them and both have very devout fan bases amongst the High School Musical set. I think Blake was the one in the bubble coming in and I don’t think he did enough to pass over Jordin and get into the finale, so my prediction is that it’ll be Melinda vs. Jordin for the American Idol contract and the ugly Pontiac.

From the Archives: Season 6 Barry Gibb Week

All this performances this week left much to be desired, which made it difficult to find one to feature. I was tempted to post one of LaKesha's performances since she was voted off this week, but both her performances were pretty bad. That would explain why she was voted off I guess. I decided on one of Melinda Doolittle's performances instead. This clip is nice because it includes the judge's comments, especially the drunk ones from Paula. "Vocals isn't all of it" she says. Well, she oughta know. And of all the people she could cite in comparision to Melinda she chose Stephanie Mills? I noted Paula's babbling at the time but as you'll see I was far too kind.

I wasn't so kind to Barry Gibb, which got me in trouble with one of my regular readers. I was taken to task for criticising a legend and bringing up his deceased brother. But as I said at the time: "Let's face it, everyone on Idol is fair game for the Armchair Idol Judge. Why else would I watch the show?" I still believe that to this day.

From May 8, 2007:

So here we are at the final four, and now they use Bee Gees songs as the theme? You would think that at this point in the competition the producers would use a theme that would present more of a singing challenge to the contestants, but instead we get disco. Plus, didn't these folks sing disco tunes during Gwen Stefani week? I think the final four week theme should be more challenging, like say Elvis Presley songs. Long live the King.

No, no Chris Daughtry reference yet. Don’t worry; I’ll work one in somehow.

So, can our singers get down tonight on the disco ra-ound? Let’s dim all the lights and find out.

This week’s mentor is Barry Gibb, who like Brian Wilson is the only surviving member of a singing family. Well, maybe he still has a surviving brother but have any of you seen him since the turn of the century? One wonders how much advice a guy who needed to suck helium to sing well can provide. I’m sure he can provide good hair advice, though. Even though his mane has more grey than mine it still looks good. Too bad Sanjaya's no longer in the competition. He would probably benefit the most from Barry’s advice.

Melinda: “Inside and Out”
Barry thought it was an unusual song choice since it was written for a trio. It was a little flat at first but it picked up towards the end. Probably not her best but better than what most of the others can do. Apparently though, the judges are demanding perfection from Melinda and thus pan her performance. Even Paula was semi-critical (fully critical is probably too much to ask). Perhaps she’s hoping to avoid eating her words from last week when she declared Phil’s performance the best opening song ever. Melinda may not have been wonderful, but she was 10 times better than what Squidward opened the show with last week.

Blake: “You Should Be Dancing”
Blake’s probably the only one of the four who can sing in the trademark Gibb falsetto. Mid song Blake breaks out his best Michael Winslow (the sound effects guy from the Police Academy movies) impression, which I thought was really annoying. His singing wasn't much better. Randy & Simon were all over that. Paula lauds the beat boxing but pans his actual singing, just to prove how bad it was.

LaKesha: “Stayin' Alive”
LaKesha goes for more of an R&B version of the song instead of the disco beat. It certainly suited her singing style better and displayed some creativity for once, something she has lacked the entire competition. Still, it wasn't that great. She rushed it a bit at first then tried to interject a bunch of stuff into the song. Let’s face it, there’s no way anyone can sing this song with a different arrangement and not raise eyebrows. It’s like singing “YMCA” as a ballad.

3 performances so far, all leaving much to be desired. Let’s face it, it’s not the singers, IT'S THE SONGS! These guys are trying to make something out of nothing and it ain't workin'. It’s like trying to draw blood from a stone. I doubt even Chris Daughtry (1) could do anything with these tunes.

Jordin: “To Love Somebody”
Let’s see what someone born long after disco died can do to keep this night from joining disco in the grave. There is some promise since she stayed away from a disco tune and went with a straight ballad. Barry thinks it’s the greatest version he’s ever heard (even better than his own?). I found it to be a little over the top. It sounded like she was trying too hard to sell it. Still, it was a good song choice and miles better than the three before her, which probably made it sound better than it really was.

Melinda: “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?”



She’s looked real nervous during the interview segment, not an encouraging sign. She also chose to leave out the line about being a loser from the song. I would too given how often Simon whines every time someone sings a lyric like that. The start was tentative and almost drowned out by the back-up singers, and then she kicked it to another level and blew them away. 10 times better performance, 100 times better song choice. Paula encourages Melinda to throw away the technical portion of her singing, and then takes a swig from her big ol' glass of God only knows what.

Blake: “This Is Where I Came In”
Blake goes the Melinda route and picks an obscure tune. Barry’s excited since it’ll allow Blake to “use the little gifts that he has.” For some reason that comment really creeps me out. Well, there was a reason why this song wasn't a hit, and Blake found it. Not even his “hip/contemporary” spin could save it. This performance was better than his first but still pretty bad. Paula of course loved the beat boxing and thought it was in tune, then got on both Randy’s and Simon’s case when they both said the exact opposite.

LaKesha: “Run to Me”
She too goes the Melinda route and chooses a ballad with two key changes. I admire the fact that she didn't overpower the song like she tends to do, but it was not the best song choice for her. The song demanded a soft touch, which she made an admirable attempt to do but went away from her strengths. Instead it sounded flat. If LaKesha loses American Idol it’ll be because her song choices have been so bad.

Jordin: “A Woman in Love”
The good news is that she picked the only Barry Gibb song sung by a woman. The bad news is that the woman was Barbra Streisand, a tough act to invite comparisons to. And in this case, Jordin didn't compare well. The song choice exposed some weaknesses in her voice that I didn't know that she had. Jordin's good, but not Streisand good (even if you hate her politics you can’t trash Babs' voice). Just like the first song, Jordin goes over the top with the vocals and the emotion. Not nearly as much in control as she has been before. She gets points, though, for staying away from the Saturday Night Fever material.

Final Score: 4 Paula Abdul slams (a new record I think), 3 mentor criticisms (including his songs), 2 proverbs about doing the impossible, and 1 Chris Daughtry reference (not bad considering the theme).

Your Two Stars of the Night: Hard to say since everyone was trying to squeeze blood from turnips. Melinda’s second song and Jordin's first were the best of the night, but neither were all that impressive.

Idol Looks Back: Chris’ departure was a no brainer. I missed picking LaKesha to leave instead of Phil, but I did say it was a toss up and that LaKesha was a better singer. So all in all I would consider last week to be a success.

The Fearless Prediction: Now that we’re down to the last 4 it’ll only the bottom 2 instead of the bottom 3. Barring a disruption to the space time continuum I think it’s safe to say that LaKesha will be one of them. Blake should be the other for a number of reasons, though as the only boy left on the show he could be in the top two for that reason alone. The girls still screech at the sound of his name, and they ain't screeching for Melinda or Jordin. Still, I’ll stuck to my principles and pick him. It won’t matter, though, who will be joining LaKesha in the bottom 2, because for the second year in a row the singer who wowed everyone the first week of voting will end up finishing fourth. Last year it was Chris Daughtry (2), this year it’ll be LaKesha Jones.

From the Archives: Season 6 Bon Jovi Week

Not much to comment on here, except that this is probably the week that got Blake Lewis into the finals. I wasn't blown away by his performance as much as some others, but because it got a lot of play it is this week's You Tube feature. It was also the first post where I settled into the final format for these posts.

From May 1, 2007:

Well, this out to be interesting. Who among this group can sing a Bon Jovi song without sounding like, well, me singing a Bon Jovi song? (though I once could do a mean Axl Rose impression after a few drinks) This is not exactly challenging material, except perhaps to singers who can’t sing rock songs, which ironically includes all 6 remaining contestants. The opening shows former Idol contestant Gina Glocksen in the audience. This year’s designated rocker I’m sure is wishing she was competing tonight. Betcha Chris Daughtry is sitting at home thinking the same thing. Well, maybe not, but rest assured I will be very tempted to refer back to Mr. Daughtry as I go through this recap.

So how will the soul sisters, boy banders, and Squidward handle big hair rock and roll? Let’s flick on the lighters and find out.

Jon Bon Jovi is this week’s mentor, preaching sincerity and feeling. Somehow it sounded more authentic this time than it did when J-Lo said it. Also, unlike J-Lo and Gwen Stefani Bon Jovi is shown giving actual technical advice to each of the contestants, yes even Melinda. Some actual mentoring from a mentor for once.

Phil: “Blaze of Glory”
I thought he would have chosen the country song that Bon Jovi did last year with Sugarland given his success with the C&W the last two weeks, but it still does have something of a country theme. Phil says he’s been singing this song for 15 years. We’ll see if practice pays off. Crowd gets off early, mistaking his shouting for passionate singing. The passion was definitely there, though vocally he’s been better. It is possible to combine passion and strong singing, just ask Chris Daughtry (I didn't mention him last week, so I feel compelled to mention him multiple times this week). Paula thinks this is the “Best opening we've had all season long.” I've heard that alcohol can cause short term memory loss, but never believed it until now. Did I mention I once could do a mean Axl Rose impression after a few drinks?

Jordin: “Livin' On a Prayer”
Jordin says “my mom grew up on Bon Jovi.” God I feel real old now. There goes my vote. To be honest, I’m not too crazy about the song choice. Like Phil, it was more shouting than singing. She was way out of her comfort zone and it showed. She even invited the criticism from the judges, something Simon was happy to oblige her with and Paula couldn't bring herself to do. No surprises there. Was there a Bon Jovi ballad that she could have done instead? I’m sure they've done at least one that would have been much better for her than this song was. Far and away her worst performance of the finals.

LaKesha: “This Ain't a Love Song”
OK, here’s bubble girl who learned about Bon Jovi from seeing him on Oprah. This girl really needs to turn off the TV and get out of the house more. This is the song that Jordin should have done. Finally, for the first time since the first week of voting she bursts out the big voice and the big attitude. She finally picked a song that accentuated the strengths of her voice and was not done by a former Idol winner, and she just blew both Phil and Jordin away. It was so good that Simon actually kissed her for it, on the lips no less. I don’t know if this is enough to save her from elimination, though. She’d be in much better shape had she chosen songs like this more often.

Blake: “You Give Love a Bad Name”



Beat box boy is taking a chance trying to tweak, make that completely overhaul, a well known song. Jon’s not too sure about it. He breaks out the beat boxing and even adds some sound effects for good measure. Not exactly my cup of tea, but it was pretty good for what it was. Let’s face it, there’s no way he could have done that song straight with that wimpy voice of his, so perhaps it’s not a big of a risk as it’s being portrayed. I think it was actually pretty smart of him, and he did sing it in tune, so yeah, he earned a few points.

Chris: “Wanted Dead or Alive”
Even Ryan has picked up on the Justin Timberlake imitation known as Chris Richardson. Chris grimaced when he said it. Well, the truth hurts sometimes, but then again that’s what’s gotten him this far. This is the song that Chris Daughtry blew everyone away with last year (that’s 4). Unlike Beat Box Blake, Chris tries to sing it straight with his boy band voice. The good thing is that we actually heard some grit for once. The bad thing is that it paled in comparison to both Bon Jovi and Chris Daughtry (5). Simon was correct, he did the best that he could with that song but it may not be enough to save him from elimination.

Melinda: “Have a Nice Day”
Well this ought to be interesting. Can the soul sister sing a rock song? I think Melinda may be the only contestant who was actually alive when Bon Jovi had their first hit. This has nothing to do with Melinda herself but after Jordin's comment I had to say it. Damn that was pretty good for someone who’s never done a rock song before. Good voice, lots of attitude. While Jordin struggled with a song outside of her range Melinda once again rose to the challenge. While it was not her best, this performance is why I think she should win this competition. She took a song in a genre she’s never done before and made it work for her.

Final Score: 5 Chris Daughtry references, 2 digs at J-Lo (the gift that keeps on giving), 1 Paula Abdul alcohol reference (ditto).

Your 3 Stars of the Night: LaKesha, Melinda, and Blake. Nice to see LaKesha back on this list, and for the first time since the start of the finals Jordin is not.

Looking Back: Nice touch by the Idol producers to not kick anybody off on charity night. I thought it was a little disingenuous, though, to tease that Jordin was going to be voted off in an attempt to keep people watching until the end. I would have thought the cause would have been enough to keep people watching without have to resort to blatant manipulation. Poor Jordin was an emotional wreck after that.

The Fearless Prediction: This one is going to be really hard to get right since the results of this week and last are going to be combined, and with 70 million votes last week who knows what will happen. This week, just like last, there were three good performances and three bad ones. This time the bad ones were Phil, Jordin, and Chris. Last week it was Blake, LaKesha, and Chris. Since Chris is the only one who shows up on both lists I predict Chris will be one of the two singers eliminated. Jordin did too good a job last week to leave now, and Blake still has the girls screaming for him, so that leaves Phil and LaKesha. This is a real toss-up for me, but since I predicted LaKesha would be voted off last week and I've twice been burned predicting Phil’s departure, I’ll stick with LaKesha as my second choice for elimination, though I thought she sang well enough tonight to stay in the competition.

From the Archives: Season 6 Idol Gives Back Week

The dying tree stayed upright against the 60 mph winds (who says we don't have weather in California?) so I'm back with another from the archives.

It'll be interesting to see if there will be another charity week this season. Keep in mind when you read the end that at the time we didn't know that no one would be voted off this week. Of course, that did keep Ryan Seacrest from almost giving eventual winner Jordin Sparks a heart attack by making her think that she was being voted off until the announcing at the end that no one was.

I found a video of Jordin's performance, which I felt was the best of the night. I'll try and find similar clips on future posts.

From April 24, 2007:

This week promises to be very interesting. There has never been a theme quite like this one before so it's hard to say who will be in their comfort zone and who will not. It’ll also expose anyone who tries to play it safe. You can’t play it save with a song that is supposed to be inspiring.

Think the stakes are high? Ryan Seacrest starts the show by saving that the audience’s votes “will save lives.” Then there are all the big name singers who will be appearing on the results show tomorrow night. And, there’s no Sanjaya to fall back on. So no, no pressure at all.

This week’s mentor is none other than Bono from U2. If there is anybody who can encourage the contestants to be inspiring and emotional this is the guy. They've really been pulling out the big names to work the show this year. Barry Manilow and Kenny Rogers can forget about getting an invite to the finale.

So now that Sanjaya is gone and we are left with actual singers in a singing competition, how will they all fare? Let’s go to the play-by-play:

Chris: “Change the World” by Eric Clapton
This will be interesting. The kid with the light voice trying to sing something deep. No words of advice from Mr. Hewson, at least none that we got to hear. Well, it’s going to be very difficult to critique anybody this week, but I have to admit that his vocal was quite pitchy. Some good, some bad. The emotion was there, which tonight is important. It didn't really pack much oomph though, not surprising I guess. Very few Justin Timberlake songs ever do.

In between each performance we get lots of Idol Gives Back promos and appeals for donations. Reminds me a lot of Comic Relief. Now we know why we’re not hearing from Bono. Too bad, I’m interested in hearing what he has to say to these contestants. Besides, how can I bash the mentor if they don’t show him saying anything?

Melinda: “There Will Come A Day” by Faith Hill
Tonight there wasn't as much of the musical gymnastics as we’re used to hearing from Melinda, but in its place we got to see a whole lotta soul. This sounded more like an Aretha Franklin song than a Faith Hill one. She really belted this one out without getting sloppy. Amazing, powerful vocal. Not for one minute did I think she was singing someone else’s song. This woman really knows how to make a song her own, just like the Queen of Soul. What else can I say, except God I hope this woman wins?

Blake: “Imagine” by John Lennon
OK, here’s the other guy with the light voice. Let’s see if he’s got some soul. I’ll give him some points for having the guts to take on one of the most famous songs around. To be honest, it sounded rather flat to me. He stayed in tune this time, which he doesn't always do, and while there wasn't a lot of emotion in his performance it’s a difficult song to really pour a lot of emotion into without sounding hokey. Probably not the best song choice.

LaKesha: “I Believe” by Fantasia
Now this is the one person I’m looking forward to hearing, the queen of emotion coming off a week when she was this close to being eliminated. This is the third time she’s chosen a song by another Idol contestant. Risky choice in that it invites comparisons to an Idol winner, which she failed at last week doing a Carrie Underwood tune. Same thing happened here too. It was a very strong vocal, stronger than most of her others, complete with all of the emotion that I was expecting. However, her performance still suffered in comparison to the original. I don’t feel good about her chances of making it to next week.

Phil: “The Change” by Garth Brooks
Squidward sticks with the country this week after jukin’ the joint last week with Keith Urban. The cowboy approach seems to be working well for him. His vocals were a little bit pitchy but not as bad as his previous performances. It didn't sound very country, but then again neither does Garth Brooks (whatever happened to him anyway?) His performance was very powerful emotionally, a very strong vocal that he managed to keep in control, and it was an excellent song choice. He really made the song his own. He has definitely hit his stride the last two weeks.

Jordin: “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel



Interesting song choice, instead of a relatively recent number she picks one that’s older than her parents; have been covered by no less than Sinatra, the 3 Tenors, Johnny Cash, and Elvis; is the song that Jerry Lewis sings at the end of his Labor Day telethon; and is the theme song for the Liverpool and Glasgow Celtic football teams. The song has a long history of inspiring people so we’ll see if it has the same affect in this setting. It’ll also be interesting to see if she can control the emotions tonight. She struggled just a little bit early on, and in the middle it looked like she was really close to an emotional breakdown but she somehow managed to hold it together. That being said, it was one hell of a powerful vocal performance, especially at the end. Not only was she holding back the tears, so was the entire audience. After hearing it I’m ready to donate money to something.

Your 3 Stars of the Night: There was a clear distinction between the top and bottom this week, more than any other show thus far this year. First the top 3, same as last week, Melinda, Jordin, and Phil. I'd have to give Jordin the edge tonight. Phil was good, Melinda was great, but Jordin's performance gave me goosebumps.

The Fearless Prediction: I’m going to break protocol and not discuss how I did last week, since I think I covered it in enough detail in an earlier post. So this time I’ll go straight to the bottom 3: Chris, Blake, and LaKesha. It’s possible that there may be a rise of support for LaKesha since she was close to elimination last week, and in terms of pure vocal ability she is much better than either of the pretty boys. However, she’s pales in comparison to both Melinda and Jordin and singing songs by former Idol winners has proven to be the kiss of death to more than one contestant, so I predict that LaKesha will be going back home tomorrow night.

From the Archives: Season 6 Country Week

I better hurry up and get the rest of Season 6 on line. The season premiere of Season 7 is 12 days away (as anyone who has been watching the Blowout Championship Series bowl games can tell you) and I still have 5 more posts to go after this one. Plus there is a big windstorm due here tomorrow and my power line runs right through a dying street tree that I can't seem to convince the city to remove. So if you don't hear from me after tonight please send a generator.

This was the week that finally did in Sanjaya and showed that at least some of voters had come to their senses. Of course that doesn't forgive these same voters for voting Melinda out before the finals. Yes I'm still bitter about that.

From April 17, 2007:

This promises to be an interesting evening. For the first time in a while, there are no country singers in this year’s competition. So everybody will be outside of their comfort zone unless they do what Chris Daughtry (hi sis) did last year when he did a rock version of Johnny Cash’s “Walk the Line” to rave reviews.

This week’s mentor is Martina McBride. Well, at least the contestants will get some actual singing advice this week as opposed to how to shake their booty. Of course this provides much less of an opportunity for me to take pot shots at the mentor. Despite that I will do my best to still keep this entertaining as well as informative.

Again I’m writing this as the show airs, even though I still ended up staying awake until midnight when I tried this last week…

The evening begins on a somber note as to be expected given the events at Virginia Tech. I was wondering how they were going to address what happened.

Phil: “Where the Blacktop Ends” by Keith Urban



We discover that Phil is originally from Kansas. Interesting, I would have guessed Oregon (not sure why, though). He needs to hit a home run tonight as he’s definitely on the bubble. I don’t know if it was a home run, but it was definitely an extra base hit. You can forget what I said about how there are no country singers in the competition, it turns out Phil’s being hiding his 10 gallon hat from all of us. He kept it under control, didn't screech, and showed some passion. Far and away his best performance to date, perhaps just enough to keep him in the game.

Jordin: “Broken Wing” by Martina McBride
Takes some guts to sing a song by the mentor. Then again, who better to give advice on how to sing it? Not a big fan of the big orange dress, but the hair stylist scores some points. She tended to oversell some parts of the vocals, but man she’s got a really good voice. Simon shocks Jordin and the world by saying that he now thinks that she can win American Idol. About time he figured that out.

Sanjaya: “Something to Talk About” by Bonnie Raitt
No creative intro from Ryan this week. Good thing there’s a commercial break between his performance and Jordin's or else he would really sound weak. Not that he needs any help in that department. He picks the song because he’s been giving people something to talk about. So he does read his press clippings after all. Hard to describe this week’s performance. It wasn't horrible, but it pales in comparison not only to the previous two singers but also to his performance last week. It was very karaoke. Ryan cuts off Simon in the middle of his rant about how horrible Sanjaya's performance was, and then the two get into an argument about whether or not Simon would ever like Sanjaya no matter how well he did. Sanjaya just stands there looking goofy as usual. I was going to write about some drunk comment made by Paula but after the Simon/Ryan tête-à-tête I forgot what she said.

LaKesha: “Jesus Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood
Another gutsy call, picking a song by a former Idol contestant. Then again, her best performance on the show this far was a Jennifer Hudson song, so maybe there’s hope. Strong vocal as usual, but I agree with the other judges that she could have done better. Given how she pours so much emotion into most of her songs I was expecting more here, especially when she said that the song meant so much to her personally. Instead, it was kind of flat. She looked nice though.

Chris: “Mayberry” by Rascal Flatts
So the dude was raised in North Carolina. I knew that there had to be somebody from the Carolinas in this show. Last year I think half of the top 12 were from there. He promises to do what Phil did and reveal his hidden country. Turns out the hat he was hiding wasn't a 10 gallon one but a beanie cap. We didn't discover any hidden country here. It was a fairly weak, pitchy vocal, almost as bad as Sanjaya's. He should have tried to do a 98 Degrees version of the tune, singing it straight was just weak. Chris tries to argue that “nasally is a form of singing”, nice try Timberlake boy.

Melinda: “Trouble is a Woman” by Julie Reeves
Martina had never heard of this song before, so she’s couldn't give Melinda much advice except not to be as shy. Notice that all of the mentors are focusing on her performing skills and never give her advice about her singing? Probably because she sings better than most of the mentors. Much better than last week. She picked a country song that she could put some soul into and really sold it. Once again best vocal of the night. Just when you think somebody like Jordin might overtake her Melinda surges back out in front again.

Blake: “When the Stars Go Blue” by Tim McGraw
The girls again scream at the sound of his name. The pitchiness that plagued him early on in the competition came back this week. The judges of course ignored this. I thought it was an OK performance but kind of bland. His performance last week was much better. At least he didn't try to make it more “hip”. I've noticed he hasn't done that for a while, and I think his performances have been better for it.

Your 3 Stars for Tonight’s Game: Melinda, Jordin, and Phil. Yes, the bald squid did well this week.

The Fearless Prediction: I managed to avoid being distracted by the gams and correctly picked Haley last week, putting me at 2-3 thus far this year. I was kind of hoping that by not picking Phil he would have been voted off but no such luck. Based on this week’s performance, though, I have new hope for Phil and thus I won’t put him in the Bottom 3 this week. And no, this is not another reverse psychology thing.

I believe that this is the week we will finally see Sanjaya in the Bottom 3. The Evil Ones that want to see him win are running out of other options to distract voters. However, my guess is that he’ll survive for Idol Gives Back Week. Joining Sanjaya on the bottom will be Chris and LaKesha. LaKesha for the same reasons I thought Melinda would be in the Bottom 3 last week, Chris because he was, well, Chris. For that reason I predict Mr. Boy Band will be heading back to the land of Dixie tomorrow night.

De los archivos: Temporada 6 semana latina

Of all the posts that I did in Season 6, or for that matter Season 5, this one is my favorite and not just because I correctly predicted who would be voted off. Jennifer Lopez provided a gold mine of material to make snide comments about. The contestants' song choices proved to be another strong source of material, and of course Sanjaya was still in the competition.

I also introduced two new features. One was the "final score", which just came to me as I was writing it. It later became a regular feature to keep track of how many Chris Daughtry references I could get into each post after my sister complained that I always mentioned Chris Daughtry at least once. This was also the first post that I wrote "live", i.e. as the show was airing, rather than after the show was over. This gave me the chance to work on my improvisational skills and also allowed me to get to bed before midnight. I can't say if the former was any good but I sure enjoyed the latter.

From April 10, 2007:

I must admit that I didn't have much hope for the theme this week. There aren't too many hip Latin tunes to choose from and this week’s “mentor” was Jennifer Lopez, not exactly noted for her vocal abilities like Gwen Stefani before her. So get ready for lots of snide J-Lo comments. Indeed, J-Lo’s first piece of advice to the contestants was this pearl of wisdom: “It doesn't matter whether or not you the high note, but who makes people go “Ohh”.” Then she’ll love Sanjaya, because that's pretty much his entire act.

To try and avoid staying up past midnight typing these things I'm trying a new approach. I'll be typing this as the show goes on. So forgive me if I'm not as witty as usual since I won't have hours and hours to think of something funny to say.

Melinda: “Sway”
J-Lo wants her to show her “sexy side”. Melinda thinks it’ll be her biggest challenge. Once again she's right on the money, in more ways than one. Started out flat, I’d guess because she was trying too hard to be sexy. Once she got into the song she seemed to do much better. No goose bumps this week for me, though. It was technically proficient but kind of stiff.

LaKesha: “Conga”
Nice looking red and black dress. J-Lo showed her how to shake her booty. Well, if there is anything J-Lo knows how to do, it’s that. I wasn't sure about the song choice at first but I thought she was pretty good. Much more loose and free performance than when she did the Donna Summer song. Paula thought it was too safe, and Simon agreed with her. Will wonders never cease?

Chris: “Smooth”
You had to figure somebody would do a Santana song. Sadly for Chris that wasn't a good choice for him. It sounded somewhat karaoke. He gets points for switching to a key more suited to his voice and actually sticking to it for the entire song. Maybe that was my problem with it; I’m so used to hearing the song in the original key that I had a hard time adjusting to the Key of Timberlake.

Haley: “Turn the Beat Around”
Did either Haley or J-Lo know that this is not a Latin song? Just because Gloria Estafan covered it (very well I might add) doesn't make it Latin. These kids today. The vocals were all over the map and pretty weak. Paula complements her for “having fun”, because you know, this is a fun competition. She broke out another pair of short shorts this week. Simon actually came out and accused Haley of trying to win by showing off the most skin. Honestly, that is all that she has going for her at this point.

Phil: “Maria, Maria”
Another hip Santana tune. Haven’t any of these kids heard of “Black Magic Woman”? He struggled yet again with his range. Some of the high and low notes sounded really strained. Other parts weren't bad though. It was just kind of OK. It didn't sound like he had fun, nor did show any skin (he even wore a hat to cover his bald head). So how is he still on the show? I've only been predicting his departure since the start of the finals, so it’s not me.

Jordin: “The Rhythm is Gonna Get You”
J-Lo thought it reminder her of Michael Jackson. Interesting comparison for Latin week. I don’t see it. I'm also surprised that Paula didn't agree with J-Lo. I’m not sure if it sounded “fun”, but it was far and away the best vocal performance so far. Simon didn't like it much, but he clearly took his grumpy pill tonight. He hasn't liked anything yet.

Blake: “I Need To Know”



Blake scored points by singing a song by J-Lo’s hubby. He scores points with me for his best performance so far in the competition. Jordin’s vocals were a little better but he did a much better performance overall. Best of the night. Even Grumpy Simon liked it. I must admit, I’m starting to warm up to this kid.

Sanjaya: “Besa Mi Mucho”
Ryan Seacrest must spend all week trying to think of a new way to introduce Sanjaya. This week it’s “the embodiment of Latin passion.” The producers try a new tactic by putting him in the coveted final spot (and at the same time put Melinda on first). Finally, somebody does a song in Spanish! It was actually a pretty good vocal! The judges were in complete shock! So am I! I guess this means we can turn the Doomsday Clock back a minute from Armageddon.

Final score: Santana 3, Gloria Estafan 3, J-Lo’s marido 1, Somebody Else 1. No surprise there. 3-1/2 snide comments about J-Lo. That kind of surprises me. I figured going in that she was good for at least 5.

Your 3 Stars for Tonight’s Game: Blake, Jordin, & I would have to say LaKesha, though the judges would probably vote for Chris instead. I can’t bring myself to list Sanjaya here.

The Fearless Prediction: There’s no way I can list Sanjaya here either. I got the Bottom 3 correct last week but once again I missed by predicting Phil to be voted off instead of Gina. I think he’ll be in the Bottom 3 again this week but I’m not about to pick him to be voted off again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, get voted off of American Idol. My guess is that Phil will be joined in the Bottom 3 by Haley and Melinda. Yes, Melinda. It wasn't nearly her best performance and some of her supporters might be taking her status for granted and voting for others assuming that she doesn't need any votes. I have a sneaky suspicion that they’ll get a wake-up call tomorrow night. If you doubt me, remember that I correctly predicted Chris Daughtry’s departure last season (I only mention it because according to my sister I mention Daughtry at least one time in each of these recaps, and I can't disappoint my own flesh and blood). However, it won’t be Melinda going home. Haley’s being flirting with departure (as well as with every male in the audience) for a while now and I think this is the week that she finally says adios.