Good evening PopPoolers. As Beth is out of the country and not able to watch tonight's broadcast, I am going to try to do her a solid by giving her my assessment of the show. As such, this will become my post for tonight, so I apologize in advance for the length, but for those of you that have the time to read it, now you can get a view into my warped interpretation of the performances and what influences my decision making. The key problem (or benefit depending on how you look at it) is that I am two large glasses of wine deep so far. I am just getting home now and begining to watch so you are going to get the live play by play.
Wholly mother of Jesus - it's Gwen Stefani! Finally an artist that doesn't have one leg in the grave. And we get to see her without all that makeup and lights and stuff. She actually looks really good. I mean she always looks great, but this is refreshingly good.
OK, so Lakisha starts it out with "Let's Dance". Of course she is Lakisha, so don't need to say much here. Nothing blew me away, but she is good as always. Gwen was speechless after hearing her because as she says "she is a better singer than I am". Randy - "you are a fly Diva", Paula - "you did Donna Summer proud." Simon - "love the up tempo beat, great vocal".
Chris Sligh - "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" (by the way, one of my favorite songs ever). Nothing unique about the performance in my opinion. Not bad. I don't expect the judges to LOVE it, but they will like it. Randy - agreed with Gwen that it was a good song for him, but his tempo was off with the band. Paula agrees with Randy - surprise, surprise. Simon - thought it was a mess.
Gina - "I'll stand by you"? Don't know the song but am guessing the title from the lyrics. It was fine. I think she is safe tonight. Gwen liked her. Randy thought it was her "best ever". Paula - blah blah blah. Simon, "It was your best performance ever - your transformation is like "chalk and cheese". What the F$%# does that mean?
Sanjaya - What the S#!& did you do to your hair!!!???? Oh my Hawaiian-Indian spiced crackers! This has to be the picture for the website tonight. He has his hair up in a faux mohawk… would that be a faux-hawk?, singing "Bathwater" by No Doubt. Funny thing is… I bet he is still safe tonight. Randy and Paula basically said as much. Simon said "I don't think there was a mirror in your dressing room", and "I don't think it matters what we say any more because people obviously love you no matter what you do". Ryan called it a "pony-hawk" which is probably a better description.
Haley Scarnato - "True Colors" Gwen is cool because she is not giving platitudes to people. I think I love her. She said that Haley started out good, but then started doing this "other kind of melody which is totally unnecessary for the song", and "she should just tone it down," and "people would really like to hear her sing that song". It appears that she has toned it down a touch. Nothing great, but not bad enough to be booted - also she is wearing a slinky little black thing that will probably keep her in the hunt (OK Sanjaya lovers - bring on the hate comments and bash my testosterone influenced tolerance for Haley). Ooooh, her last little ending note - a wee bit out of tune. Hmmph. Randy - "started a little rough, got better towards the end, I wasn't jumping up and down - it was just aaaiiight". Paula - something about beautiful song, vulnerable - blah blah blah - pretty girl - blah blah blah. Simon - "sweet but forgettable. Too safe."
Phil Stacey - Ok, first the good news - he has a cap on tonight. The bad news - it's a girl's knit cap!! (I think crochet is the proper term). Singing "Every breath you take". Gwen actually liked his rehearsal - (he must not have had that same cap on). Randy - "I actually kind of liked it Dog". Paula - something about personality, color, magic, "blah blah blah". Simon - "very good. Great choice of song - first time I thought you were taking this competition seriously."
Melissa Doolittle - "Heaven Knows" Donna Summer. Gwen "she blew me away - mind blowing". I'm not sure about this outfit tonight, but another great vocal. She has such great control and emphasis behind her lyrics. Randy agrees with me - he says "Melinda, you know what's so dope man? (what if she actually is a man?)... you are like a pro. You come out here each week and interpret the lyrics and sing with feeling and live the words" … or something like that. Paula - "you have charisma from the word go. You…" something about spades, "blah blah blah." Simon - "Not the performance that we will remember as your best, but your vocals were outstanding as usual… hate the outfit". Simon and I are like 'this' man!
Blake Lewis - "Love Song" by The Cure. Gwen, "the melody in this song is strong and he needs to be careful about when he chooses to beat-box or else he will distract from the melody which is so simple". Not a great vocal per-se tonight. I think Blake is typically safe, but this was a tough night - bad song choice? No beat boxing tonight at all. Randy - "not my perfect song choice, but guess what, you made the most of it. You had that tender spot." Paula "Blake, I LOVED what you did with the song. You're taking risks, making it your own, I'd love to see you in the finale"(and in my dressing room after the show). Simon "You are the best guy in this competition for sure. You have to be careful because you are in this Chris Daughtry zone where you are doing your own thing. Don't be too indulgent and boring - it's a matter of taste. However, for sure you are the front running guy."
Jordin Sparks "Hey baby." Gwen, "I was surprised when I heard she was going to sing this song, but she made it sound much more musical than I thought it was. She's cute and refreshing and I'm excited for her." OK, but what the hell is this outfit? It's like a bad accident between a picnic table and Soviet school girl uniform. To me, the vocals are coming across like a bit of a karaoke performance. Randy "Risky thing to do - you could do anything and that was brilliant. Paula "you're adorable, and hip and young, blah blah blah, blah blah blah... blah blah." Simon, "probably the most improved contestant in the last few weeks. Younger more confident, but a bit copy-catish". Hmmm, well it didn't do much for me. You know... I think I could probably fit my entire arm through those hoops in her ears.
Chris Richardson - "Don't speak" Gwen, "I've seen him before and I know he likes to do these vocal Olympics kinds of things, but I don't think he really needs it Just focus on the song and emotion." In my assessment, he is doing it well. He has a good contemporary feel and it works for me. A few rough spots intonation-wise. Ended with a strong bit. Randy, "Yo Chris, so check it out man. Liked the R&B flavor. It was good". Paula "you're good, you're good. Hey, can someone get me another drink over here!!!??? And for goodness sake, which one of these boys am I going to manipulate in my room later tonight??!!!! Yeah, Chris, you're good." Simon, "song choice got you in trouble tonight last week but this was a much better choice of song. Still wasn't crazy about it. Struggled in the middle." Yeah, I agree.
Well, that's the end of my wine soaked recap of tonight's Idol. Quite frankly, I'm not sure what to make of it all. We've weeded out some of the obvious riffraff other than Sanjaya, and he is staying in because of some combination of the following - spite, the entire US population of junior high school girls and curious boys, and Howard Stern. So, as far as I'm concerned it's anyone's to lose tonight other than Melinda, Lakisha, Blake, and I can't believe I am about to say this, Sanjaya. PopPoolers - give me your thoughts.
BB
Well, it seems that the bottom two were pretty clear going into tonight. I unfortunately went with the outside bet on Haley and got stung. Congrats to the mass majority of you that got it right with Chris Sligh. It also appears that the dust is settling again on Phil and his number may be up in the coming weeks - but not SANJAYA, noooooo! Speaking of Sanjaya, you had to love Ryan's hair extensions. Well, that's all for tonight, just the facts. It's time for bed, and so I'll leave us all with this image of Gwen saying "Go
odnight Bradley". "Goodnight Gwen. Say goodnight Gwen... Gwen, say goodnight! It's me... Brad... you know. Don't pretend like you don't remember. Gwen!!!" Oh whatever.
