American Idol -- 4/17

[Arp2]

Phil Stacy -- Martina had it right when saying he needed that "soulfulness" all the way through; I found Phil a little too reserved and "trying to perform" throughout and, though liking Phil, just can't be as positive as the judges were.

Jordin -- she's not Martina, but wow! She could have walked a little bit, and the beginning of the end was ever-so-slightly botched, but gee whiz! She killed!

Sanjaya -- "Something To Talk About" is not country...well, not exactly. By today's standards, maybe. He kept himself within a comfortable range, telling me he's not comfortable with or maybe not capable of going outside it. And the hillbilly-woman-stereotype-'do-wrag thing was atrocious. Absolutely awful, but maybe not awful enough to shake off his faithful.

LaKisha -- when I heard her say the song she'd chosen, I was prepared to be really impressed; however, when she sang it, she never pushed me there. I don't exactly agree with the "you shouted it" from the judges; I think she was too close to the "trained" "pure" style of singing, heard it and realized it, pushed herself more in the "natural" direction, but pushed on over into the "sharp" area just a bit. This song couldn't survive the tongue-too-big-for-the-mouth lisp thing she's got, either, IMHO.

Chris -- a little flat/dull on the verse, almost perfect on the pre-chorus, not happy enough on the chorus, back to a little flat on the bridge, and kinda mediocre on the finish. He probably thought he was doing it and succeeding at it, but he wasn't. His a capella with Martina sounded better, I thought, which led to this thought/question: is it possible he's on some sort of "relax" drugs?

Melinda -- I'm totally in love with Melinda...but I think I've mentioned that before. Solid, solid, solid! And, again, demonstrating a ton of versatility! I was afraid that the song didn't lend itself enough to Melinda for her to blow the roof off as she usually does, but, by the time it was over, she had, once again!

An aside...sort of...especially to those who don't like the show: Many years ago, when I first really realized how much BS the music industry is, I asked myself, "if the best singer in the history of the world came along but were unattractive or couldn't be made to fit "the image," would we ever get to hear him or her?" There is no reason, whatsoever, that we've not heard Melinda until now and that she's been relegated to background vocals other than "she can't be made to fit 'the image.'" That's crap, and the people are getting to bypass the industry filter. I like that. A lot.

Blake -- no, no, no, no....well, maybe. If the song had never been recorded and heard before,....okay. But it has, and this performance didn't come close. On the other hand, it was actually a reasonable performance....if Blake actually gets a deal, and I imagine he will, I'd say he could record that and ship it to AC, but AC played Tim's already.

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Best: Melinda and Jordin (tie)

Worst: Sanjaya

Should Go: Sanjaya

Will Go: God help us, Sanjaya. Or Phil. But let it be Sanjaya!

[Bob Campbell]

Sanjaya, sanjaya sanjaya sanjaya, half a billion Indians can't be wrong.

[Arp2]

Possible shocker coming?

http://www.dialidol.com/asp/predictions/Predictions.asp

It's that point....anything can happen....

[Ace Purple]

Notice the inordinate amount of votes cast for Sanjaya relative to the rest of the field.

[Arp2]

He appears to me to be projected in last place.

[Dave Allen]

Oh, forgot, still haven't watched it.

No, wait, I did watch it..long enough to see why I don't watch it.

[Ace Purple]

He appears to me to be projected in last place.

He does have the lowest placement as far as busy signals go, but the total number of calls shows that, far and away, people used Dial Idol to vote for him more than any other contestant.

We'll see soon enough how it turned out.

[Arp2]

Ah....I've never looked at those other thingies. Thanks for making me find them.

[Arp2]

Drudge: within seconds!


...including 'do-rag graphic. Replaced VT kid.

[Greg Goodfellow]

Our long national nightmare is over!

[Dave Allen]

The show is being cancelled?