The Final Idol

First let me start with a re-enactment of Paula's night last night when Officer Johnson arrived at her door. "Yes, uh huh Ms. Abdul, so could you repeat for me again exactly how it was that you tripped over your dog Tulip and ended up with a collagen injection in your lip? What? Oh yes, sorry, you did say bruised nose, yes I've got that right here."

So, on to more important matters. What a shame for Blake to go out like this. He put up such a strong fight and gave us something new and different to look forward to each week. He could not have picked or been handed a worse repertiore. His Bon Jovi thing was fine... again, but it ended there. His Maroon 5 song sounded more like it was from Moron 5 and just left me cold. Then, the doozy of them all - that crap song from those Seattle boys really sunk him. OK, maybe I'm being harsh, but there is a direct musical rip-off from a Chris Tomlin song entitled "How Great is Our God" in that tune (check out the comparison). But for Blake - man his arrangement sucked! Jordin got the better end of that deal. The backing vocal arrangements in Blake's version were so bad, it just sunk that ship faster than it would have on it's own. That's OK, though, he's going to make millions doing his thang despite the fact that his parent's never bought him that damn drumset.

As for Jordin... OK, there is something that we need to talk about. I see then energy, the sweet and cuteness of it all, and yes she can really belt it out there for a 17 year old, but does anyone else notice that she consistently sings flat??? Maybe we didn't notice tonight because Blake does too, but I'm sorry, it's not just the stage. Melinda neeevvvvvveeeerrrrr sang flat like that - neither did Fantasia. Jordin just does not have the chops that those vocalists do, and the judges never once called it out. I would normally count on Simon to call out the truth, but I don't think he has the ear to pick out the intonation problems.

Well, they were both just fine, but that was about it. I think it would have been much more interesting if Melinda had been there. We'll see what the public thinks, but I don't think our boy Blake has a chance tomorrow.

On another note - for those of you that loved this pool, we are going to be running a pool at this same site for "So You Think You Can Dance?". The show starts this week, but the competition won't start for a few weeks until the auditions are done. If you are interested, please e-mail beth@poppool.com. Also, let us know if you are interested in On The Lot and if there is enough interest, maybe we'll run something for that too! ...despite the fact that they rejected my entry. :(

Thanks again to you all for the biggest and best AI pool yet!!!

Brad

A tough choice

Well, it's a tough choice tonight for sure. Three different directions to go. Jordin has risen to be a popular favorite, and though she is an incredible vocalist, she doesn't quite have the prowess that Melinda does. But does Melinda have the style and edge that is so often important in a pop-star contest such as this? Blake seems to be the outside shot, but maybe he is unique enough to pull something off here. I also suspect that he is a popular favorite among the young female population which I suspect is the largest demographic of the voting populus.

A bit of a changeup in tonights results

Yes, a bit of a curve ball in tonight's results. As we don't know how the results will be unveiled next week, we will wait to see if they give and indication as to which order the bottom two were eliminated. So, depending on how the results are unveiled next week, one of two things will likely happen with the scoring for PopPool.

1. We are told which order the bottom two are eliminated
In this case, Game 1 results will be unaffected and the contestants will be listed in the correct order of elimination. For Game 2, the contestant with the least votes will be treated as being eliminated this week and the contestant with the second to least votes will be treated as next week's elimination. This obviously creates a slight complication for Game 2 for if you incorrectly guessed for this week, you won't know if you can try again to guess that person next week. In order to ensure that scoring is fair in both cases, we will require that all players submit a different name for the Game 2 elimination than they did this week.

2. There is no indication of which order the bottom two were eliminated
In the second case, Game 1 scoring will be modified to treat the week 7 and week 8 eliminations equally as though both contestants were actually eliminated in week 8. For Game 2, a correct choice in either week 7 or week 8 will count regardless of the order. So, if you chose both of the contestants that are eliminated, you will get 2 points regardless of the order. If you guess only one of the two eliminations, you will get one point regardless of whether your choice is in the week 7 or week 8 position. Obviously, if you don't guess either one correctly, you will not get any points.

If there are any other modifications or complications, we will be sure to let you know. As a reminder, you are required to submit a different name for Game 2 next week than you did for this week. Good luck - it will be an interesting week next week!


Beth & Brad

Uh, did anyone else notice that there was a soft focus filter on Celine Dion during her performance? I wonder if that was in her contract. She was the only one. Funny... and weird.