American Idol: Had to Happen Eventually!

That goes for a couple things. You all know I say it all the time, but the 16 year olds will fall one by one! Lisa's time to go was way overdue, so was me picking the right contestant to get booted! But for some reason I can't get that bottom 3 right. I even threw in Katharine as a last minue extra special Bonus Wildcard because I heard rumblings of people thinking she was awful last night. I didn't think she was fantasic, but I thought she was better than quite a few people last night. But like Simon said, it could've been anyone as mostly everyone did something in their performance worth complaining about. So let's bid farewell to our latest cast-off:

Bottom 3: Lisa Tucker, Ace Young, Katharine McPhee


Eliminated: Lisa Tucker

Hey, if you're going to do Kelly Clarkson, you better make sure you can sing it and back it up with some emotion! Especially, since that song is so personally tied to Kelly's childhood. Lisa seemed like she was too focused on singing "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" with her buddy Simba. (Yeah, the more I think about it, little Nala didn't really sing much in the Lion King, did she? It was the adult Nala!) Anyways...besides the ridiculous Ford Commerical, and the latest Pop Artist Tie-In (Lip Synchers Shakira and Ex/Future Refugee Wycleff Jean) what was there worth discussing in tonight's results show?

Katharine McPhee. Was she really the person who got the 2nd lowest votes? American Idol is supposedly about America choosing a winner, which they do to an extent. But Idol Producers and strategists are always working on ways to push their favorites. And Katharine is a favorite of theirs. Ace has been in the bottom 3 before and he was lousy last night. And I just don't think THAT many people would've given up on Miss McPhee (granted...I was at a Flyers game or I may have voted. But was EVERYONE at a flyers game last night? no). So Notice how Ryan never says something like "Ace, you have the 3rd lowest number of votes" or "Katharine, you have the 2nd lowest." It's always "Ace, we're going to send you back to your seat." I'm convinced they put Katharine in that bottom 2 to scare America into thinking that she was next to go had Lionel not been there to take the fall. So fear not people, Katharine will be fine. But do your part to vote! Fall into the Idol Trap! Do what they want!

And has anyone noticed how Bucky is just sittin pretty? I think votefortheworst.com really has it wrong this year. (They predictably have chosen Kellie Pickler as Covais's replacement) I think Bucky is the guy that's going to surprise us when we get a little further into the competition and people start doing double takes and saying...."wait.....Bucky's still in this??" I mean, I made that exact comment last night when Bucky took the stage! That Redneck contingent is strong! And they may support their REAL GOOD MAN enough to kick out some decent talent. But.....it's nights like last night that remind us how EVERYONE in this competition can screw up and how no one is safe.

What can we hope for in Country Week next week? Well, that Chris and Mandisa drop the egos and get back to business. That Kellie gets a little more goofy to annoy more people but entertain me! That Taylor continues to show his range and how he deserves to be called a favorite in this competition (but hopefully bring a little more of his back spasms back). That Katharine rebounds and rallies the troops to regain her hot streak. That Elliott continues to dance like a Hippo on stage while hinting at the possibility that he may quite be from a distant magical world. That Ace sings another song where he can point out things on himself that reflect the true meaning of the song (tell us about that scar again buddy!). That Bucky takes the night off and secretly lets his Twin Brother sing a little ditty which either unites the country in laughter or in shock at the brilliance of "Bucky's" sudden display of talent, either way generating a one-way ticket for Paris out of the competition.

If only it would be that easy! Well that's it everyone. I'll see you next week for the Top 9. Oh and by the way.....that was Lionel Richie in that picture up there, not Lisa Tucker. You didn't even notice did you!? lol So gullible you people!

American Idol: Top 10 Perform

What a rough night. First I had to trek all the way to Philly to watch the Flyers lose to the Maple Leafs, then I had to come home and watch a pretty mediocre hour of American Idol on my TiVo. And, to top things off, I don't have much time to write this puppy. So I'm going to try to sum it up as best as I can. The theme tonight, Songs of the 21st Century (aka 2000-2006). You wouldn't have known it from some of the choices. These kids are just WEIRD!

• Lisa "Because of You" - Well we now know why Simon Cowell and crew whined and complained about getting permission to use Kelly Clarkson songs on the show. Yep, so Lisa Tucker could butcher it! I've had enough of Lisa. And one time when I pick her to get voted off, she WILL get voted off!
• Kellie "The suds in the Bucket" - Seriously Kellie? SUDS in a BUCKET? Apologize all you want for the song choice, but that was just ridiculous. The girl got so much bad press this week. People thinking she's a Phony. Hell, who doesn't know she's "milking the southern 'clueless' thing" a bit by this point? I thought she was on pretty good behavior tonight, but she let her song choice do all the talking. And it was just kinda goofy.
• Ace - "Drops of Jupter" - Couldn't have said it better myself. Pure Karaoke performance. Oh and nice showing of the scar to get Paula Clark all hot and bothered. Only Paula, coming off a season where she was in a "sex scandal" with a contestant, would actually say something like "One day you'll have to explain to me how you got that [scar]." Thank god for Paula (who besides that comment, actually said some stuff that made sense tonight)
• Taylor - "Trouble" - Rayla Montane? (I have no idea who it is...so I'm not even going to try to spell it right lol) My opinion? Best performance of the night. He, despite Simon's protests, changed up his image a bit (Leather Jacket, T-shirt, Jeans, Shorter hair instead of a suit) and he changed up his approach a bit. Just stood and sang America a great song. Probably no one knew the song, but I know I'm going to be looking for it on itunes (if I remember by tomorrow). He's definitely old school for a younger generation (thanks Paula). I thought tonight's performance was very Van Morrison-like with a Taylor Twist. Love this guy.
• ManDIVA - "Wanna Praise You" - I say it every week. The girl can sing. But Simon's right, she may have gone a little too "OUT THERE" with this one. It was way too over the top. But who are we kidding? She's safe this week. She's a DIVA!
• Chris - "What If" Creed. Was talking to some people this week and somehow we predicted a CREED performance out of Chris this week. Hey Simon...congrats you finally caught on! Yes....now Simon agrees with us that all that Chris has proven is that he's a One-Trick Pony. CHRIS why didn't you take my suggestion to do a BALLAD? Oh, you don't read my blog? NO EXCUSE! You read all the other internet press about you stealing credit from LIVE's version of "I walk the Line" last week. I love how they tried to do damage control this week. The producers try to pass Chris off as making his own original version of the song...it blows up in their face....how do they resolve it? Have Ryan ask Chris about it in a little 1 on 1 chat. Good times. Chris is safe...but he better get changing!
• Katharine - "The Voice Within" XTINA Aguilera - I like Katharine a lot, and I think she did an okay performance. It's always tough to do a Christina song with her distinct voice. But she pulled it off somewhat. I know, I sound like a cookie cutter comment from Randy or Paula. But it's true. This girl is a cutie....with a great smile...and a great voice to go with. She's going to go far. But she should try to cut out some of those PITCHY notes!
• Bucky - "Real Good Man" Tim McGraw - Did you see those crazy dance moves Bucky was doing? Was he trying to do a pseudo Line Dance/Moon Walk? Was a good time. What's there to say about Bucky? He's good at being him, but he's not good enough for this competition. I thought about it the same way Simon did. If we were paying to see a concert and Bucky walked on stage and did that performance, good chance I would've walked out. But he still has some appeal out there. And we can't count out the REDNECK vote! His day will come, but I'm not sure it's this Wednesday.
• Paris - "Work It Out" - Not since Aloha Micheau (spelling?) graced the Idol Semi-final stage has someone tried to pull of Beyonce's boppin tune. People fear the song, for even when you sing it really well...you get eliminated from the competition! Well, I don't think Paris is in any trouble. Before Simon made his negative comments about "a little girl pretending to be Beyonce" I thought Paris was really good tonight. And who didn't laugh when she did the signature Beyonce butt shake? It was hysterical! Ok, if you didn't laugh, I'm sure you gagged! But I liked the performance. Still not a huge Paris fan though.
• Elliott -"I Don't Wanna Be" Gavin Degraw - Oh yeah...just what we need...a SOULFUL version of the ONE TREE HILL Theme song! If Elliott has anything to worry about this week besides the crazy backup singers that dominated the big screen with their presence, it was his dancing. I was trying to point out what Mr. Tumnus's dance moves reminded me of. And I still can't figure it out! Anyone out there have any ideas? And the Jazzy version of the song? I thought Tumnus was gonna pull out that flute-like recorder that he used in Narnia to put little Lucy to sleep! I dunno...I guess it was good...but I just can't take this guy seriously! I can't stop laughing when I see him singing. I really don't think it's just his appearance, he just has a weird way about him that makes it hard for me to listen to what he's singing. But, apparently I'm just not hip like Paula to recognize that he is ONE FUNKY WHITE BOY.

I'm not even going to try and get creative with the bottom 3. Maybe if I don't think too much about it, I'll get it right. (yeah right!) Here's what I think:

Bottom 3: Ace, Lisa, Bucky (Wildcard: Kellie Bonus Wildcard: Elliott Extra Bonus WC: Katharine)
Eliminated: Lisa Tucker - Yes Miss Lionel Richie, I'm going to "Do it to you one more time" I just don't think you're cut out for this show anymore. And well, you made a mockery out of my favorite Idol's song! One she actually wrote herself! SHAME ON YOU....and get off AMERICA'S STAGE!

Hope I didn't scare anyone there. But no one messes with Kelly Clarkson and lives to sing another day! Hope you all enjoyed the shorter blog. I'll try to be as long winded as possible next week to make up for it! Have a wonderful Wednesday!

American Idol: Reverse Psychology Wins this round!

That's right! The most amazing thing happened tonight. Yes folks, we thought we were going to be stuck with him forever, and guess what? He's GONE! Simon finally backed down from his insults and told the boy that he liked him and that his audience would like him....and not only did he make the bottom 3, but he got the ol' Heave ho! Never thought I'd be shocked to see the worst contestant be sent packin. But, I gotta say...I am PLEASANTLY SURPRISED! This is quite a blow to votefortheworst.com, I think they were banking on quite a few more weeks of American Idol's own Sexual Icon!

Kevin Covais - eliminated from American Idol 2006. So long Kevin..you've been with us 2 months too long!

Bottom 3: Lisa, Bucky, Kevin

So, I'm not doing too well with the elimination picks this year. It's all good. I'm only concerned about picking our Idol winner at the end. What happens up till then is just a whole bunch of suspense that leads to inevitable results (just not in the order we think!). So who IS going to be our Idol? I'm not sure, but I think we can analyze this a bit to narrow down the field:

Well, the worst is out of the competition. votefortheworst will now claim that Kellie Pickler is the worst in the competition, which makes no sense since she's doing fine on her own. What is going to get interesting is how we will lose our best singers and in what order. Never has an Idol Season gone down the way we expect it to. We know that the Heavy Hitters, vocally, in this competition are Mandisa, Paris, Katharine, Taylor, Chris, and Elliott. Now that Kevin is gone, Lisa and Bucky won't be far behind. So then we have Kellie and Ace who are left as the wildcards. One of these (or even both) are definitely going to beat out one or 2 of those 6. So the question is who of the 6 are expendable? I go with the youngest and the ugliest...and that, my friends, is Paris and Elliott. I thought ol' Tumnus would get a scare this week, but he's still going strong. People seem to like him right now.

So...if Kellie and Ace knock out France and the Yeti, then we're looking at Mandisa, Katharine, Taylor or Chris as our next potential Idols. And well...all bets are going on a MALE this season. But, as I stated in Tuesday's blog, I'm not sold on Chris yet. And I'm definitely not sold on Taylor, even though I'm a huge fan of the guy. This season, the producers are definitely grooming Chris to be our Rockin Idol, but in my opinion, he has some work to do. Perhaps he'll be more in his element with songs of the 21st Century next week. I'd suggest that if he picks a Rock song, that he show some other style than he's been doing since week 1 of the Semi-Finals. What should he do? Oh I dunno....maybe a rock-ballad? We haven't seen that yet from him. Could work well.

Sorry, I got on a Chris tangent. Back to narrowing it down. Simon believes that Kellie will be in that top 3. And I definitely could see it. But if that happens, she's going to have to kick out Mandisa, Taylor, Katharine or Chris to get there. We have many weeks to go and this decision could be much easier then. For now, I say this competition is wide open between Mandisa, Katharine, Taylor and Chris. (And Kellie will play spoiler to them. Ace will be gone by then, I'm guessing) .

I know, I write such logical analysis on this show, and it NEVER pans out. It's kinda like my LOST write-up! A whole bunch of theories that end up being bogus.

Just shows how entertaining my lies are! But remember, if I am right about anything above....you'll never hear the end of it! And that's what I'm counting on!

Till next week kids....have a great 5 days away from Idol!

American Idol: Top 11 Perform

Okay everyone, are you ready? LOOK AT THE PICKLE!!! God, am I the only one that doesn't get tired of Kellie rambling on about the most pointless things? So we had some more showstopping performances on 50's Night (Kudos to myself for accurately predicting the theme night) and some bores and some Kevin Covais performances. We saw tons of Barry Manilow, Paula getting more inebriated as the show went on and we saw the judges getting along for once! Okay, so maybe we didn't see one of those things! Anyway, I think I have a pretty good idea who will be in that bottom 3 on Wednesday. But I did last week too. You just never know what's gonna go down, but now that we're a bit more educated on what America is thinking and what SIMON is thinking (fyi...if you don't know what 3 he predicted to be in the final 3 it's Chris, Taylor, and Kellie) we now have a base to work from. We can do this! Let's go 3 for 3 with our bottom 3 this week!

• MANDIVA - "I Don't Hurt Anymore" - That's right folks, she is no longer Mandisa. She, dubbed by her fans, has been promoted to DIVA'hood. And man, what a way to start the show. This girl has GOT IT! Barry got lost for words and said that Mandisa has NO RANGE. I got a chuckle out of that as he just meant that there was NO LIMIT to her range. What is there to say about Mandisa that we haven't aleady said? She's a powerhouse in this competition and is safe for quite some time. What REALLY has to be said is that when Simon referred to the song as a "stripper song" Paula said...."you would know what they play at STRIPPER BARS" Ugh Paula...come on show some respect...they're called STRIP CLUBS!
• Yucky - "Oh Boy" Oh boy indeed. Poor Buddy Holly, if only he got to see what ol' Bucky turned this song into. This may have been the perfect song choice for Bucky, as hailed by Paula and Randy, but that only means one thing. It's time for Bucky to leave us. This type of performance is not what is going to win you the crown. There was no OH GOSH, GOLLY GEE moments in Bucky's segment tonight. Not even the interview was flattering enough to keep the interest of America. What we got out of him was something that the country is going to forget. But he'll be duking it out with another forgettable performance. I must note that drunken Paula didn't even give ol' Bucky a critique. When it was her turn to talk she asked Bucky "How was it working with Barry?" ??????? I just don't know what else to say.
• French Fantasia - "Fever" Okay, there's no doubt that Paris has the skills, the chops, the whole package. But is she annoying anyone else yet? I just don't know what it is. I mean, she had a cute little outfit on and the Jasmine Trias flower and a SMOKING performance that will keep her sailing in this competition. Speaking of Jasmine Trias, what was up with all the past idol contestants there last night? And WHY was Ryan Cabrerra hanging out with Constantine? Anyway, my favorite part of the performance is when the camera was zooming from the crowd back onto the stage...and you just saw some random guy snapping his fingers along to the beat of the song. He was a one man band and 10 times more watchable than Paris! Ugh...and to top things off, according to Paris, a Strings Section isn't part of the Band. They are 2 separate entities. Bleh! This all being said, she WAS awesome and will be here next week. No question.
• The Uncompromised Bald guy with Sideburns- "I Walk the Line" - Okay, so we get it now. Chris will not compromise his style for ANY theme night. He will rework the tunes so that they all sound like the same song week after week. Am I falling off the Chris wagon? It's something that I was thinking was inevitable. He is a one-trick pony. And the lack of stage presence is firing me up a bit. I don't know what he does but he just holds onto that mic stand with his life and his body doesn't move at all. You just see the mic stand move up and down. Don't get me wrong....he rocked the crowd once again. People love him. I still like him and he's going to last for awhile, but I think he has to show some versatility. Sure, one can argue (like the judges) that he is making the songs his own and that this takes a lot of talent. It definitely does, as a musician I am aware of what it takes. But come on! It's going to get OLD after a few weeks. Guess what? It's been a few weeks! I think another thing that irked me is that he found a way to pull back his whole sob story about his wife and illegitimate children and how the song was relevant to his life. I know the producers try to humanize these people. But I'd rather see Chris look human on stage. And I haven't seen it yet. And people called Carrie a robot. Ugh! (okay, she kinda was but I liked that robot!)
• Katharine "Clarkson" McPhee- "Come Rain or Come Shine" Ahh the Ella Fitzgerald classic. Miss McPhee is coming into her own and America is getting on board. And I must say it. How CUTE is this girl? I couldn't even write any notes down, I just had to watch the performance. She pulled me in. And she did one thing that I've been hammering her for since day one. SHE MOVED AROUND! Thank you Katharine for not standing in one place and singing. Maybe Barry whipped her into shape a bit. Last week before the top 12 performances, I did a little survey of what week you think each person will leave the competition. I had Katharine getting kicked out after making the top 3. At this point, I see no reason in changing that. I dare to go against Simon, I know, but she's got some skills and likability factor that doesn't wear on people (like maybe her BFF Pickler will) No, if anything, it's growing more each week.
• The Old Guy - "Not Fade Away" Another Buddy holly tune brought to us by the great Taylor Hicks. Well, the guy is a fireball of energy that just won't burn out. I still love it, but I gotta agree with Simon and Randy. He picked a song that just was too simple. One of those 5-chord jobs with no lyrics. Paula was quick to silence them with her comments about the dances people used to do to this song. Paula, what on earth does this have to do with 2006 and what people will think of the song now? Simon made a great point that if this was the first time we ever saw Taylor perform, it would not have been a lasting impression. I'm still a big fan of the guy. But this was a big step back for him. I'm sure his fanbase will pull him through though. He's one of the most talked about contestants. And how about that POWDER BLUE SUIT? That's worth a couple votes in itself!
• Lionel Richie and Tiffany's love child - "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" - Ooooh no Lisa, you picked a song with 4 key changes! NOOOOO! Barry got really excited about this. That may have been the most exciting part of the Lisa Tucker segment. I already referenced it, but this looked like a reject from the Tiffany Mall Tour. Yeah, I know I made the reference about someone last year (I forget who), but it's like we were reliving it. Yeah, Lisa's got a great voice, and I thought she may be able to bounce back this week. But guess what? Her age is definitely showing. I knew it was just a matter of time. First it was the stream of ballads that she picked to get to the top 12. Then she tried to up the ante with some up tempo tunes and just got clobbered. I think the other girls in this competition are just outperforming this girl and appealing to America for their votes. And with sub-par performances like this, she's going to be fighting her way out of this competition with Mr. Covington. And I won't lie....but I actually wrote down that the performance was "TOO CUTESY and TOO 16 year-oldish" only to have Simon report back that the performance was a little "Too Cutesy" ahhhh I'm getting better and better! The key thing to remember about the Lisa segment of tonight's show is that no one booed the judges when they gave negative comments about Lisa. She just doesn't have many people pulling for her.
• The Little Boy Who Couldn't - "When I Fall In Love" GAG....UGH....JUST END IT NOW! PLEASE! Okay...I got it out of my system. I know we're going to have Kevin Covais with us for a bit, even with Simon's reverse psychology remarks tonight. And he DID perform better than Bucky and Lisa. But I couldn't get past the first shot of him sitting on the step trying to be "vulnerable" (a la Barry's advice) without laughing my butt off. Also, Kev trying to tone it down in his pre-performance interview by saying he's never experienced true love instead of saying that he's a "sex symbol" Can anyone feel MORE sorry for this guy? Yikes. Well don't worry everyone, it'll be over eventually. Remember...Scott Savol only made it to the final 5 last year with Anthony Federov getting to the top 4. LOL. I am so funny sometimes, aren't I?
• Fantasy Book Character Look-A-Like Extreme Makeover Candidate - "Teach Me Tonight" - Well Barry did try to teach Elliott how to convey some emotion and tell the story of whatever song he is performing. And, he did start out trying to convey SOME kind of emotion through those pearly white crooked teeth. He even lowered his eyes a bit to make it seem like he was looking at the crowd instead of the sky. But by the end of the performance it was just Classic Yamin technically singing the song brilliantly but not selling the performance. Simon, judging the SINGING, said it was Fantastic. And yes, it was. But contrary to what Simon says. It's not JUST a singing competition. It definitely isn't a DANCING competition like Paula keeps veering off track with. But you can't just get up there and sing note for note. It's about picking songs that people know or something catchy that people will like. This does not necessarily coincide with the most musically complicated song you can find. Because you only impress the judges with those type of choices and a select few music aficionados. Unless you REALLY bring the house down with your performance. For me, Elliott has yet to bring the house down. But he does have a great voice.
• PICKLE! - "Walking After Midnight" - Woaaa....Kellie. What was with all that Make-up? I mean...she had a smokin look going on, but the make-up was overbearing. But it wasn't overbearing enough for me not to thoroughly enjoy another Premium Pickler Performance. She was back in prime form and back doing what America likes seeing her do. Unfortunately, her Mic wasn't working AFTER the performance so we couldn't get any Picklerisms.... she tried her darndist though....and what we did get was "OH MY GOD THERE'S A PICKLE OUT THERE!" I just love it! She so ridiculously over-doing it but I love every second of it. Even her explaining what the song was about before the performance. This is what the whole package is all about. She was flirting with the judges....growling out some good notes.....and just getting the crowd to melt in her hands. Was it an IDOL winning performance? Don't know if I'd go that far, but it's the type of performance that will keep her in this thing until the later rounds.....probably fighting with Katharine for a final 3 spot. People were ready to write her off after one performance. Hell I even put her in the bottom 3 just to scare her. But she's back!
• Cheese of Spades - "In the Still of the Night" - So how cute was that little girl that was a big Ace Young fan? Started off as a little cross-promotion of texting votes in and showing off the new Motorola SLVR offered by Cingular (man, I should get paid for that name drop too!), and moved onto the cutest thing ever when she got to introduce her favorite performer. I'll forgive her for picking the CUTE BOY that lacks the talent of other contestants, you know...since she was 8. So what can we say about Ace Jazzing up "In the Still of the Night?" Well, it sure sounded like the same song to me. Are we supposed to believe that he made it HIS own just as much as Chris did with "I Walk the Line?" I think they stretched that a bit much. What I WILL say is that Ace was much better than last week and he should bounce back out of that bottom 3 for now. And if things don't work out for him....it's okay. Paula assured him that at least 34 people in the audience want to marry him. Silly Paula, always forgetting to count herself. It's 35 Mrs. Clark!

Alrighty, here we are. Time to choose. Always have a tough time thinking of that 3rd victim of the bottom 3. I said I'd go with my gut, but I'm not quite sure what that is telling me right now! I need to process this!

Who is absolutely safe? Mandisa, Paris, Chris, Katharine, Kellie, Ace.
Who of the favorites had a rough night? Taylor
Who are next in line to get kicked off the show? Bucky, Covais, Tucker
Who else is left? Mr. Tumnus

Bottom 3: Bucky, Lisa, Elliott (Wildcard: Covais, Bonus Wildcard: Taylor :-( )
Elimination Pick: Lisa Tucker. Go ahead and rejoin the Lion King Musical Cast, Nala. I'm sure you had more support there!

Tough call between Bucky and Lisa. But I'm gonna go with the Redneck contingent. Someone out there's gotta still like Bucky. I just don't see much being said about Lisa and like I said before, she's getting outperformed by the other girls. My Elliott pick? Well, yeah he was good, but like I said...I think he only impressed the judges with the song choice. It's time for him to get a little scare. And it's time for me to get a little more unconventional with my bottom 3 picks.

That's all I got, tune in Wednesday night to see how poorly I did! Hope you enjoyed my analysis!

American Idol: Lesson Learned

Yup...I should always go with my gut and never listen to Simon again! I mentioned I thought Melissa had sung her "GOODBYE" in Tuesday's performance, but Simon threw me off! And my botton 3, UGH! I knew deep down that Ace and Lisa were questionable. And worst of all....I had craziest feeling that Kevin Covais would escape elimination (and might for quite some time). But, naturally I went against all my instincts and went with the safe choices of "WORST PERFORMANCES." Not so safe, is it? Once we get to that top 12, it's a whole new game. During the semi-finals fans get attached to their favorite Males and favorite females....and maybe once the top 12 arrive they start only voting for one. And...well what happens? Favorites during the semi-finals are lost or forgotten. Especially when they don't put out their strongest performances. Sure, I had Ace as a wildcard pick for a bottom 3 spot.....but Lisa was screaming for a bottom 3 pick too, and I totally let it go! I blame myself for this. I should've seen all of this coming. And I've learned my lesson. I am going with my gut from now on. I'm not going to take a stand and predict what should happen! This is American Idol, not "Let's let Mike vote people off as he sees fit!" Hey people love Kellie Pickler! Even I voted for her last night, so others must've done the same thing. They want to give her another shot. So why on Earth did I put her in the bottom 3? Yep, because her performance wasn't good. Rookie mistakes and I make them every year!

Anyways...enough of my rambling. If you haven't figured out what transpired tonight from my mumbo jumbo above here it is:

Bottom 3: Ace Young, Lisa Tucker, Melissa McGhee
Eliminated: Melissa McGhee


votefortheworst.com is probably having a field day with the fact that Kevin didn't even show up in the bottom 3. I'll tell you, people aren't going to forget to vote for Ace and Lisa next week, and Ace and Lisa aren't going to make it easy for them to forget. They'll bounce back. So, I think this show is going to be as unpredictable as ever. But we now know that Mr. Covais has some support whether it be for the right or wrong reasons. We're going to have ourselves one rollercoaster of a ride to the end. And I'm on board!

One final note, wasn't the FORD Commerical worth the wait? I mean, we get a little Duncan Sheik musical adventure in the woods and Ace dressed up as Mr. Tumnus! No wonder Elliott loved it so much!

See you guys next week for another fun-filled 2 nights of Idol as the top 11 continue to diminish. Rumor has it Barry Manilow will be appearing. Could it be the 50's Theme week to go along with his Hot Selling 50's Music album? I'd put money on it. But before you invest in any of my stock, take a look at my recent track record of predictions!

American Idol: Top 12 Perform

Well, 2 months of Idol and we're finally at the main event. The Top 12 are here and ready to beg for your vote! We've got a bigger stage, a bigger band, more lights, and more crazy fans and paulas obsessed with no-talent teenagers. Yes my friends, American Idol is back in full throttle! And yes....for the first couple weeks we have the unbearable commercial-laden 2 hour performance nights to whittle down that top 12. But at least it's only 2 nights a week until the end. So, Simon summed up tonight best when he said it felt like 2 different competitions. Doesn't it always? Except usually, there's like 2 people who are AWESOME, a few OKAY people, and then those that are completely awful. Tonight, we got the tale of 2 halves. There were the BAD performances and the Incredible performances. Sure there are still some in there that are just mediocre. We'll break it all down soon enough. Let me just state that I agree with the judges that when you pick a theme such as "Stevie Wonder Night" you're just begging for trouble. Stevie is such a distinct voice and it's hard to sing his songs (well if you're not me...) I think what they were trying to do is separate the weakest links from the Real Deals. And they did just that. But we have a long road ahead of us, and I still haven't figured out who's leaving us (although it's incredibly obvious who should be!). So....buckle your seatbelts folks, the Top 12 Performance Recaps are finally here!

• Ace - "Do I Do" - Ace was all over the place (rhyming was intentional) tonight. He literally was running around the stage doing his best Constantine smoldering stare, he was working the crowd by going on the crazy stage extension that goes behind the judges, he wore sneakers (to I dunno...go jogging?), he danced his crazy dances....but he forgot one little tiny thing that so many previous performers of his kind have forgotten. Yep, he forgot to sing! When I said he was all over the place, I meant physically AND vocally....he just couldn't stay in tune. That being said....everyone loved him! Well...besides Randy, Simon, and any human looking for a good singer and not a coverboy that can sing sometimes... Simon gave one of the best quotes of the night when he said "Lucky for you the audience is easily pleased." Couldn't agree more, Ace is golden for this first stage of the long running game.
• Kellie - "Blame it on the Sun" - Kellie is playing the cute card more than her talent card these days. When is America going to tire of this little schtick? I'm not tired of it yet. That performance may have been the most boring performance of the night. She sang it on key, but I don't know the song. I don't know many people that would know the song. And even if they did....I think they would still switch the radio station if they heard THAT performance of it. But this girl's personality is off the charts! You couldn't help but shake your head in amazement and smile at her cluelessness when she said that she basically didn't even know who Stevie Wonder was....when she stuck her tongue out and gave herself 2 thumbs down....when she talked about her tarantula-like eyelashes that aren't scary because they're not REAL tarantulas. How can you not love this girl? And she HAS had some great performances in the past. I'm really confused what to do with her at this point. Because if it wasn't for America loving her (and people like me still voting for her), I would put her in the bottom 3, no question. We're gonna have to keep going!
• Elliott - "Knocks Me Off My Feet" - Yes...yes...Elliott is a huge Stevie fan. And he cried like a good little fawn when he met Stevie. Kinda like when Mr. Tumnus cried when he realized he had betrayed Lucy's trust in the magical world of Narnia! (yeah...i'm not over it yet...i kept bursting out into laughter during his performance) At least Elliott says that he would want to change his teeth (or his "Grill" as he called it) if he could. I think America would love that. He was sporting a blazer from the Don Johnson collection tonight and yes....we have our first CHAIR SIGHTING of the Competition! You know...when the singer sits down to open their performance in an intimate setting, and then they stand up to make it seem all the more dramatic.... Look, Elliott has an awesome voice....we have established this....but his stage presence was sorely lacking...his eyes were focused upward the whole performance...and something was just OFF in this performance. I think he's going to have to work on his song selection in future outings. Paula loved that Elliott was a crybaby....and Simon said it was a good karaoke performance of a Stevie song but no Wow factor. Poor Elliott needs braces and the ability to excite people. Good luck buddy. We're all pulling (teeth) for you!
• Mandisa - "Don't You Worry About a Thing" - Wasn't it so cute when Ryan took off Mandisa's Shoes because her "dawgs were barking?" Yeah...maybe cute isn't the right word. But I'm sure it worked for her. Not that Mandisa needs any gimmicks to lure in votes with that big voice, big personality, and big...ummm...oh hell...I'm not gonna get in trouble like Simon! Anyway...for a woman of a non-small size, she could "work it" on that stage! And she definitely delivered the best performance as of that point in the night...and the best of the 1st hour. But...even with Mandisa taking up the whole stage (WITH HER VOICE PEOPLE! I can't believe you thought I was talking about her......you know....oh nevermind!) guess who returned to try and ruin the day.....that's right....the CRAZY BACK-UP SINGERS! They're back! They were dancing...they were on camera behind Mandisa....and they were crazy! Ahhh yes...it's the little things that make these top 12 performances exciting for me. The cheesy little IDOL twists that get thrown into these performances. Oh come on...like you guys aren't looking forward to our first FORD COMMERCIAL tomorrow! Am I done talking about Mandisa? Yeah I think so....she probably had the 5th best performance of the night and she was AWESOME. I mean...how crazy is that? 5 GREAT performances?? Keep reading!
• Bucky - "Superstition" - We have another guy who didn't listen to Stevie growing up. It's always those southern people who have never eaten real food or haven't sported fake eyelashes before, isn't it? Anyway...Bucky couldn't have picked a better song on STEVIE NIGHT for his voice. I actually really enjoyed this performance. I mean, in no way does he get put in the same category of some of our other performers but he stayed true to his abilities and he put on quite a good show. I'm glad he made the top 12. He definitely has grown on me over the weeks. Of course Simon was not too thrilled with the hairdo...saying it was too "Jessica Simpson-like." Not sure if I would've went with that comparison, but it DID have a lot of volume to it! (yeah...I may have been female in my last life or something....I swear I'm straight!)
• Melissa - "Lately" - So we see in the little clips working with Stevie Wonder that she messed up his lyrics right in front of him, and then we get to see her mess up a more famous Stevie song on LIVE TV! How can you not sing PREMONITION? Instead she tried to change Recognition INTO premonition as she was singing it. It was a good time. I thought there were some really good parts to her performance and then some really bad parts. But I was totally on a different page than the judges with this one. Paula loves her unique voice and forgave the lyrical mess-up. Simon said it was her best performance yet. Then again, Simon didn't like her other performances, I don't think. I would've said that when she sang "This Time Could Mean Goodbye" she was singing her swan song. But sometimes I forget what unintentional comedy creeped into this top 12! (we're getting there.)
• Lisa - "Signed Sealed Delivered" Apparently Stevie was giving Lisa advice on bringing her ballad talent to an up-tempo song. I think this song may be one of my favorite Stevie songs but something just didn't seem right with this performance to me. It was technically all there. It was even more than technical. She worked the stage, she smiled...and she sang her heart out. But at times it just seemed like a forced performance. But maybe I missed something because the Judges liked it. Well Randy liked the end, Paula liked when she ad-libbed the vocals....but Simon said it was one of the best performances because she controlled the stage. I dunno....I guess it was good enough to not be in danger this week. And good enough for me to get another opinion on her next week. But at least she DID do a faster song instead of a ballad.
• Kevin - "Part-Time Lover" Oh God. How much funnier can the Covais saga get? I would love to see a competition where Scott Savol, Anthony Federov, Jon Stevens, Nikki Mikibin, and RJ Helton all perform for our votes! I think my laughter would never stop! Anyway, Kevin has assumed his role as the resident Sex Symbol of the show this year and decided to sing a song about Booty Calls. Oooh Kevin, you're so bad! Did anyone see those moves he was doing out there? I think I saw the Running Man, and the Robot....and well he was PRANCING for a bit. That was a good time. But my favorite Covais pose is the one where he holds the Mic close to his body with the left hand...and then reaches out to the crowd with his right hand...and well...wiggles around in one place and sings...lisp and all! Man...this guy is the spitting image of our next idol isn't he? It was sooooo bad it was hysterical. Randy and Paula are getting too predictable...with their "Man I love you so much....Stevie wants to squish you....we want to squish you....you're such a cute little cuddly boy and we want to blah blah blah" Geez...how long are they gonna let this go? Simon at least kept it real by saying it was appalling. My only concern with Mr. Covais is that with each crazy performance like this...he's only going to gain more acclaim with votefortheworst.com (as he is now the SOLE person they are choosing to vote for). It's going to be a tough decision for me. But I have some time still. I have to talk about 4 outstanding performances still!
• Katharine - "Until You Come Back To Me" - First reaction to seeing Katharine out there tonight? She was lookin goooood. Dress was kinda crazy, but I didn't care. And well she pulled out an awesome vocal out of her pocket. She made it a Katharine McPhee original. My only complaint would be that after she did her prance out to center stage....she stayed in that spot for the rest of the performance. But when you have a voice like that, I think it's allowed. Even gave us another gem from Paula "Something about that voice just pierces through the heart" ummmm okay. Simon gave the biggest comment of the night by comparing her to Kelly Clarkson at this stage of the game. I can't say I haven't seen a tiny similarity, but, if anything, I just see it as a big compliment from Simon. Even though Kelly isn't high on Simon's list of favorite people anymore. (poor multi-platinum selling, grammy winning Kelly)
• Taylor - "Living For The City" Love it when Taylor gets into MUSIC mode and starts naming the album and year of release for the songs he's picking. I just don't have much to say about Taylor except....how can you NOT love this guy? He's just awesome out there. The crowd loves it, the people at home get into it....he is a great performer. And if he can keep up performances like that....he's a threat in this competition. And from what I've been hearing, and reading...he is the most talked about contestant at this point. Rumors of him dying his hair? He already said that he wouldn't do it, but now he's telling us to "stay tuned" hmmmm. I say stick with what got you there! And that would be acting like everyone's dad being drunk at a wedding and getting on stage and singing...right Simon? (Loved that comment...)
• Paris - "All I Do" - What can I say? I had mean things to say about Paris last week. And this week all I can say is that unfortunately she was simply amazing! And she is very much back in this competition. Like Randy, I heard a lot of what I heard in that audition performance of "Take Five." She was just hitting notes so clearly and commanding the stage with her crazy cute dances. It pains me to say that I enjoyed it...but I did. My only complaint is when she took it too far and FANTASIA'ized herself by singing her responses to Ryan after the performance. I know Fantasia never did that, but it was the same type of egotistical thing that she would've done had she not been illiterate and thought of it herself. (yeah yeah yeah..I know what you're thinking. What does being illiterate have to do with singing to Ryan? It's my joke! just deal with it!)
• Chris - "Higher Ground" - I think we all had been wondering since Ryan uttered the words "Stevie Wonder Night next week" what on Earth was Chris going to sing? And I was just saying to myself how Stevie has so many songs that sometimes you don't even know some of them are his. Well, I did know Higher Ground was a Stevie Wonder song, but I had totally forgotten about it. And well, I HATE the Red Hot Chilli Peppers so I never would've thought of their cover of the song. But man...does this kid know how to pick songs! I'll give him a VETO for last week's SEETHER choice. Again, Chris came out and just rocked the house. He is a little stiff out there with his moves...but he still worked the stage, and he also WORKED the BAND. I love it when performers do that. Gotta give props to the people backing you up! They're the ones that make you sound GREAT when you're good and Good when you're sometimes bad! Well tonight Chris was ALL good. Simon said that this is the only "Real World" performance of the night. I know what you're thinking...Virgin Cowboy John from Season 2 of the Real World. But no, that's not what Simon was talking about. He just meant that this was the only performance that stands out in the real world and that he could see being a hit record for CHRIS. I think what he was saying is that Chris is probably the most marketable of the 12. And well, after tonight...I'd still say he's leading the pack. But the competition has gotten a little more intense. It's really hard to predict who will come down with the crown. But we don't have to worry about that just yet. We just have to get rid of one!

My My My....5 Great Performances, 3 Decent performances, 3 sub-par performances, 1 awful performance. It's never easy is it? Sometimes I wish I didn't know about votefortheworst.com or just not believe that it actually impacts the vote. It just seems so obvious who should be leaving us.

Bottom 3: Kevin, Kellie, Melissa (Wildcard: Ace) (Bonus Wildcard: Bucky)

Elimination Pick: KEVIN COVAIS....go home and take advatange of your new Sex Symboldom in High School!

Similar to Scott Savol, I think I'm going to keep picking Kevin until he's gone. I don't care if I don't get it right! Alright Kids....these are the blogs you used to know and love...I know! Tune in Wednesday Night to see how America screwed it up!

American Idol: I Need a New Job

Wow....1 for 4 this week. What a crazy turn of events. Mostly not a surprise, but that Geddeon one slapped me in the face. Maybe I misjudged America. But I think it was more of a case, finally, of votefortheworst.com. How else would Kevin Covais beat Geddeon? The worst vote combined with people that just feel sorry for him has allowed the viewers to enjoy weeks and weeks more of unintentional comedy from not 1, but 2 CONTESTANTS! That's right folks, Bucky is alive too! Here's our final 4 cast-offs to finalize our top 12.

Top Row: Will Makar, Gedeon McKinney


Bottom Row: Kinnik Sky, Ayla Brown

I think most people will miss Ayla from those 4. She was trying her best and she did her best to cry on camera last night. The other 3 weren't going to win anyway, so it wouldn't be a top 12 without some really awful people. And we have 2 or 3 of them in there now. I'm not ashamed to say it: Kevin, Bucky, Melissa. Bucky being the best of those 3. I'm glad I haven't lost my touch with picking out the underdogs. I did mention last week that Melissa may be sneaking into this top 12. Will she go far? She may last a little longer than we think. Some of the early front runners have been slipping lately and could disappear from this competition early. But logically, The 3 mentioned above should be the first 3 to go. This is where Votefortheworst.com works its magic. Look no further than Scott Savol and Anthony Federov getting to the top 4/5 last year. In such a predictable competition, there is a LOT of "unpredictableness." Isn't it great that I'm talking about the show being predictable when I'm 1 for 4 on my picks? Well, I do have my wildcard picks! So the only thing I'm shocked about is Gedeon. And I will take full responsibility for my statements saying he was a shoe-in.

So meet your top 12 America....we're going to get sick of all of these people by May (in blue is who I originally picked from the Top 24):
Ace Young
Bucky Convington
Chris Daughtry
Elliott Yamin
Katharine McPhee
Kellie Pickler
Kevin Covais
Lisa Tucker
Mandisa
Melissa McGhee
Paris Bennett
Taylor Hicks

8 for 12 aint' bad in my opinion. There's always some shockers. Speaking of shockers, how about Bo Bice not being able to stay in tune last night? If that's the "Real Thing" give me lip synching next time! OKay, that's all I have to say this week. Tune in next Tuesday for the first Top 12 performance. And yes Mandisa, there will be a bigger stage.

American Idol: Top 8 Guys Perform

Yep, so once again there is no question as to who are the worst of the guys. The difference is, there are 3 of them. So the big question is, which one rose to the challenge enough to get into the coveted 6th spot? Well, is it THAT coveted when they'll probably be one of the first to go? I know who I want out of this competition, but you just can't tell how gullible the masses of America are when it comes to those itty bitty teeny weeny Teenagers we have in our competition. So let's break it down!

• Giddeon - "When a Man Loves a Woman" - Okay, I think the creepiest thing I ever saw in my life happened late last night when I watched Giddeon telling his deepest darkest secret. Apparently he loves painting abstract art which always includes a RECORD, and this depiction that he showed us was a record with a painting of the world, in which the needle from the record player plays the sound of music around the world!!! Ahhh to be 17 again. What the hell was this dude talking about? Anyways, besides all that, and Simon calling him very bizarre....his singing is good enough to get him in that spot (among other things). Paula had another ridiculous quote "The throwback to your style is Amazing" Is she sure she said that right? I'm not going back on my word. Giddeon is in the top 12.
• Chris - "Broken" Seether featuring Amy Lee (from Evanescence). Guess what kids? Chris used to have Hair! (didn't we all?) Alright, so Chris showed some weakness tonight. I still thought he was really good, but why choose a song that mainly is known for Amy Lee's distinct voice featured in it. Of course there is a solo Seether version, but it's pretty monotone to show off Chris's awesome hard rock voice. He has some stage presence issues also, but then again so did Carrie Underwood and she did just fine wouldn't you say? Definitely top 12 material (I'll even go as far as saying top 4).
• Kevin - "Vincent" Don McLean - Well for a Kanye West lover who puts a little Kanye into his performance, he had a crazy way of showing it picking this Clay Aiken favorite. I wrote down three words to sum up his performance "Kill Me Now!" I mean it was the kind of thing that would make you lose your hearing because your Ears would've given up on you for watching and attempting to listen to it! Are people going to vote for him because they feel sorry for him? They didn't feel sorry for him last week, putting him in the bottom 3. He's definitely on my list to get out of this competition, I've made no secret about it. And seriously Randy and Paula, STOP giving the boy hope!!!!
• Bucky - "Wave on Wave" Pat Green. Wow, I think I have found our new unintentional comedy winner if Kevin leaves us. We have to keep Bucky in this competition to find more of the exploits and adventures of Bucky and his identical twin brother Rocky. And when we say identical, it's not even a stretch! They dress the same, wear their hair and teeth the same, they even act the same. Well, that's not true....Rocky may be even a tad more clueless than his celebrity brother. Seriously, if you were an identical twin wouldn't you be looking to start changing your appearance to look a LITTLE different than your brother? Look no further than the Olsen Twins! Anyway, as for his performance, Bucky is finding his comfort zone and improving each week. I think he deserves this spot over the other 2 weaklings. But I'm just not sure we can count out the Tweener vote at this point. Then again, the Redneck vote cannot be discarded. It works in the political realm, maybe it works in the pop culture arena too!
• William - "How Sweet it Is" James Taylor. I've just got one thing to say.....the kid said in Japanese "11 year olds around the world....UNITE!" Get rid of this kid! Besides that, I couldn't get images of Chris Klein in American Pie singing "How Sweet it Is" in the Choir to get closer to Mena Suvari. Then again, even Chris was better than this. That being said, it wasn't THAT bad of a performance, better than his previous performances. I did pick this guy to be in the top 12. It was against my wishes though, I don't think he's fit to be our next idol (none of the 3 weaklings are)....but he gives us no comedy! I really hope he doesn't make it, but I think it's between him and Bucky at this point. Paula went on a rant of how she isn't 11 years old and loves William, and Simon retorted by saying "At least you got the middle aged vote." Maybe he does......but I'd count more on the tweeners!
• Taylor - "Taking it to the Streets" Michael MacDonald - Ladies and Gentlemen, TAYLOR IS BACK! What an outstanding performance. I mean, anyone that can take a Michael MacDonald performance and make it the best performance of the night deserves our vote! This guy is such a treat to watch. I say it every week, but I mean it. And the dance moves were outstanding! I don't care if they were ridiculous! It's all part of what makes Taylor, Taylor. (for anyone that doesn't know who Michael MacDonald is, watch the 40 Year Old Virgin)
• Elliott - "Heaven" Bryan Adams - I have received some feedback and we finally have pinpointed what animal Elliott looks like. Anyone see The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe? Mr. Yamin is the spitting image of Mr. Tumnus our Fawn that guides Lucy through the magical world of Narnia. Well that being said...I think we have some "Spare 'oom" for Elliott in the top 12. I thought his rendition of Heaven was great. Maybe a little boring, but the song can be a tad boring. He's got a great voice, and definitely put on 3 deserving performances to get him to the next round. You go Mr. Tumnus!
  
• Ace - "You Give Me Butterflies" Michael Jackson - Also known as the song in which Michael Jackson became a female for good. Ace showed off his Falsetto voice in this performance. Why does everyone feel they have to do this in season 5? Anyway, he was pretty good with it, but it just got a little tiresome for me. But the Ladies loved it. And it IS Ace. As Simon said the performance had its moments but ACE made it work. No reason to think he'll be gone.

Okay...so here we are. 3 people, 2 need to go. Do I go with my gut or what I want? Does it matter? Either I'm right, or I'll get what I want! I've been 3 for 4 2 weeks in a row. Should I put this in Jeopardy? I'm going with the gut. Here's how I think it's gonna go down:

Bottom 3: Bucky, Kev, William
Elimination Picks: Bucky, Covais. Wildcard: William

It pains me to do that, because I don't think William deserves a top 12 spot. But when it's all said and done, 11 year olds can't vote in politics, but they can in American Idol. I think there's more of them that want William in than anyone that wants Bucky in. I really hope I'm not right on this. But I just think this is what will happen. We'll see tonight when our top 12 are revealed.

Okay, that's it for now. Tune in tonight to the show and tomorrow for the results blog (yeah...I gave in too easy on my "No Results-Show" Blog stance!)

American Idol: Top 8 Females Perform

Sorry for the delay folks, but let me just say that Billy Joel was faaaaantastic last night. You can imagine the letdown of watching 8 amateur singers after watching such a talent as Billy for 2 plus hours. So, maybe my review will be a little skewed. But one thing is for sure it's going to be short and sweet. What is there to say about these girls that hasn't been said already? From last night's performances my top 6 that I've been hailing since day 1 are practically a 90% lock. But based on last night's performances, there could be a switcharoo that I led onto in previous blogs for spot #6. Here we go:

• Paris - Gloria Estafan - Crazy Conga song - I wrote down one word to describe the performance and the 3 judges pretty much all said the same thing. "SUCKS" It was awful. It's the kind of performance that makes people breathe a sigh of relief knowing that Paris isn't a threat to win it all. That being said...she's still in the top 12. But her acclaim took a hit this week. And I will suggest, as I always do, to look no further than her age. A 16/17 year old has never won this competition, and I hope they never do. Also...my recovering from a strong alcohol buzz after the Joel concert may have caused me to write down the following as Paula was talking "I love the world, I like Blueberries and I also like melodies. you suck!"
• Lisa - performing another crazy ballad.... Does she not get the hint from the judges? AWFUL song choice...another boring song. But still her voice is amazing, she's just going to need some help on theme nights on picking a song. And I swear... if there's a DISNEY NIGHT and she does a song from the Lion King because she was in it....well I don't know what I'm going to do but just assume it will be bad!
• Melissa - "What About Love" - Heart, I said to look out for her last week as a Jessica Sierra type threat, and she pulls through here with another solid song choice, but she pretty much blew a great performance with a very weak ending and an awful last note. Maybe it was the Vodka from the Billy Joel concert, but I was saying the exact words of the judges (yep, even paula) before they even uttered a word! Ok...it's not the alcohol, I do that anyway! Anyway...point being is that the judges agreed with me! Simon predicted this is the last we'll see of her. And well, he hasn't been wrong yet in this competition.
• Katharine - "Think" - Aretha. Kudos to Katharine for strongly declining Seacrest's attempts to make a joke about a Kevin Covais/Katharine sex scandal. Maybe kev will get a shot of reality in his developing ego. So anyway "Think" always reminds me of the Blues Brothers and Aretha's performance to her husband Matt "Guitar" Murphy in their little diner. FREEEEDOM!!!! Ahh memories. Anyways, Katharine didn't erase those memories for me but she did do a great job with the performance. She's got a great voice and a great personality to go with it. Simon said it was a risk to do an Aretha tune, but that she did it effortless. I look forward to seeing her move on to the next round.
• Kinnik - Alicia Keys "If I Ain't Got You" - I think Paula summed it up best when she said "You usually nail your songs vocally" I seriously need to get some of what Paula is smoking. I mean, seriously? She's the only one in the top 24 that cannot carry a tune!!! And with that...I have nothing left to say. Good Riddance! (okay..so I had a little more to say)
• Ayla - "Unwritten" Natasha Beddingfield - Hmmm I dunno Ayla, that was just a stupid song choice! Randy said that it's not a good song to show your stuff on. A "5-note" song if you will. I mean, I have a hard enough time listening to the song when it's on the radio all day, let alone listen to Ayla (struggling to stay in that top 6) mimic it. Simon actually liked the film clips of her playing Basketball or whatever more than the performance...and would prefer to see THAT on stage. Okay Ayla, pull out the "White Men Can't Jump" soundtrack and you're good to go!
• Mandisa - "I'm Every Woman" - Hate the song, loved the performance. For me, it's just a treat to hear this girl take the stage. Not someone I'd ever vote for, but I still like to hear her sing. Hopefully she doesn't let the judges' comments go to her head and start singing Chaka Kahn or Whitney every week. Loved that Simon dropped a TiVo plug into his critique. Screw all the imitators! TiVo rules!!!
• Kellie - Melissa Etheridge "I'm The Only One" - Okay so she named her dog after Comet on Full House, but we still love her. And why not? I think her performance of this tired song was one of the best of the night! She's making up for her sub-par vocals (good, but not compared to some of the others) with great song choices, and sparkling personality...and the judges and America are eating it up. So it boggles my mind that Votefortheworst.com actually told their supporters to vote for Kellie. She is far from the worst in this competition and I think they jumped the gun a bit.

By now, you know that I never stick to my word about a Short blog. So deal with it! My analysis won't be long though. I know who I'm picking to go. It's not too tough for me. I'm going with Simon's picks because those were my picks before tonight's performances ever happened.

Bottom 3: Ayla, Melissa, Kinnik
Elimination picks: Melissa, Kinnik Wildcard Pick: Ayla

That's all folks. Tune in tonight for the guys. Don't forget, that blog will be delayed too. Hopefully you are all coping!

American Idol: In an Ideal World...

Hey, I said it myself in Tuesday's recap. In an ideal world, Brenna Gethers would be voted off. Well, America did the right thing. And I am getting too caught up in conspiracy theories this early in the game. But you never know when the shockers are going to start. So I'll be happy with my 3 for 4 2 weeks in a row and we can all breathe a sigh of relief that Ana Lucia has been voted off of at least ONE high rated TV show this season. (fingers crossed for Lost!)
Here's our Least Voted "Idols":

Top Row: Brenna Gethers, Heather Cox


Bottom Row: David Radford, Jose "Sway" Penala
Jam packed results show from the cheesey Top 20 Performance, to the soothing sounds of Carrie Underwood crying out a little prayer for God to get a driver's license. Not much shocking about the bottom 3's (surprised they went to the bottom 3 gimmick so early). Maybe with the exception of Covais being down there. Maybe there are more of me out there than I thought! I hope the guy DOES make the top 12 though. He gives me great material! But there is always Gedeon and that crazy smile. Seacrest asked Sway (after it was between him and kev) what the guys said to him during the commercial break.....Sway just responded with a "dude...I can't say that on national televsion!" type of look. I'm guessing they told him that there was no way Kevin beat him. Ahhh good times. And kudos to the producers for making Seacrest put all of the guys on the spot with the ol' "Do you think you're in the bottom 3?" question that they have to answer all PC. Everyone did except Taylor and Gedeon. And kudos to THEM for being honest! And a final kudos to the remaining 8 girls who showed a more sensitive side and actually came out to support their fellow male cast-offs. While the guys left Brenna and Heather out there to stand alone!! (actually...kudos to the guys too! lol)

I don't even know what to say about the judges tonight but was there any point of having them there besides to laugh at Paula's inability to be put on the spot? (a lot of "on the spotness" tonight!) I think she said something about Pizza and Salad in a critique of why Kinnik and Heather were in the bottom 3? WHAAAAAT? And the fortune cookie?? Maybe simon fed her the words, but her trying to translate it was the best part.

Live TV. Can't beat it!

Okay, no need to write for the sake of writing. I've said my piece. And the best part is, everything is going according to plan. My projected top 12 are still alive 2 weeks into the semi-finals. Can Makar beat out Covais or Bucky to make my projected top 12 a reality? Will Kinik meet her inevitable end and will Melissa not get my suggested Jessica Sierra bug? Am I taking the fun out of the show by making a majority of the right picks? Naaaaaa Tune in next week for your answers.

By the way, my recaps will be a bit delayed for all 3 shows. Busy week away from the office, but don't fear, the recaps will come! And while you are watching Tuesday night, I will be watching my true American Idol, Mr. Billy Joel! God bless TiVo! Enjoy your weekends.

American Idol: Top 10 Guys Perform

Another night filled with decent performances, boring performances, and all out comedy on American Idol. Man...this double duty is killing me with Lost and Idol..thank God Lost is on hiatus until April after tonight! Okay...anyway let's get right into it:

• Taylor Hicks - "Easy" Commodores. I don't think it's biased of me to say that this guy was great tonight. Apparently, the judges don't agree with me but I'm pretty sure America will. It's just a pleasure to see a guy that really has a love for music come up and perform a great rendition of Lisa Tucker's "easy"....whoops...that would be Lionel Richie! (oh come on..you knew that was coming!) Judges didn't like the song choice. Sure, he'll need to pull out bigger guns in future competitions, but I still found this to be a treat. He's safe! (anyone spot Bo Bice in the crowd cheering on Taylor? crazy stuff)
• Elliott Yamin - James Moody "Moody's Mood for Love" - I never heard this song before, but Elliott did sing the hell out of it. Hit all the notes, all the runs. He grooved it out. Randy gave the guy out first standing O of the season, along with the studio crowd responding very positively. Simon thought the same way I did....after last week's big compliments (best male voice in 5 seasons), Elliott came out with a lot of confidence and it showed in his performance. He also added that you can't win with songs like this, but still a fantastic performance. I'll drink to that!
• Ace Young - Daniel Beddingfield "If I'm Not Made For You" (hmmm I always thought it was If you're not the one...oh well) Man he started this off pretty lousy. Missing all the low notes...but when he got into full swing with the ballad (I know..almost an oxymoron), he did well. Paula liked the "FALS"....come on Paula....don't make up words! It's Falsetto! In all honesty the High Note did surprisingly work (as Paula suggested). Randy liked song choice, Simon did not. Simon thought the song was all wrong for poor ace. I'm not gonna sit here and say it was a fantastic performance...but with women tingling over the thought of Ace....I think he'll stay. Loved the Corey Clark reference when Paula said "Hi Ace"....simon responded with a swift "careful..." lol...good times.
• Gedeon McKinney - "Change is Gonna Come" - Sam Cooke And people doubted me when I said Gedeon would be in the top 12! Come on...besides my other reasoning....the guy is a pretty damn good singer too! He did his thing out there....just let loose in the middle and enjoyed his performance. I know I'm just repeating what Randy said. I'm tired! Give me a break! Simon said that Gedeon is a throwback to the performers Berry Gordy would've recruited 40 years ago. Very Authentic and Brilliant. I thought he was good too, not someone I'll be dialing the phone for, but he'll do just fine this week and next.
• Kevin "teenage sex symbol" Covais - Marvin Gaye - Once Seacrest said Kev would be doing Marvin, I spent the commercial break thinking about what song he would perform. I chuckled thinking in my head that all the girls pinching his cheek last week went to his head and now he's got a little tiny cute ego. I actually started to think he was going to sing Let's Get It On or Sexual Healing. And who's with me? Would that not have been the funniest sight ever??!! "Heard it Through the Grapevine" was on my list too...and a much more realistic song for him to sing....except all of that WOBBLING! what was he doing out there? He was trying to come out of his shell...and he recruited ditz and dawg to support his cause. They thought he was the cutest thing ever....and well..so does a lot of America probably. I still tend to agree with Simon that there is no place for ol' Kev in this competition. His performance definitely was not radio friendly. Why waste a top 12 spot on him? That being said, he's going to have a 1 in 8 chance next week of making that top 12. I don't think he's out of this thing yet. Oh...and did anyone hear Randy bust out some singing in his critique? niiiice.
• Jose "Sway" Penala - "Overjoyed" Stevie Wonder - Okay...are they ever going to let these guys stop picking Stevie Wonder? Is it me, or has someone sang a Stevie song every week this season? (not to mention all 4 other seasons). Just another cookie cutter karaoke performance from Sway. Again, I apologize for using Simon's words...but he hit it right on the head. And the worst of it all? No enthusiasm. Sway may be into some rough waters come tomorrow. He did nothing to help his chances by telling the judges "it's an off night of me" and "probably not the best song choice" in his miserable tone. Maybe something happened off camera and he just didn't feel like being there. I didn't see his Dad in the audience and his whole video interview was about his dad and mom both being there to support him. Anyways....all just speculation....but there's no getting around people totally forgetting that performance.
• Will Makar - "Lady" - Lionel?? - Oh lord...when this kid said he met Justin Guarini at some Press event and was so excited because he watched him on TV back when he was 12....I just shook my head. Just a scary thought that this dude was a boy 4 years ago. Anyway...I know I haven't said much about the performance....honestly? I don't remember it! I do remember dropping my pen at the sheer boredom of it. I tried to warn everyone out there about these pre-teens! I don't know if he's quite in danger of elimination yet. But with improved performances from some people who were on the chopping block...it could happen!
• Bucky Covington - "Thunder Rolls" Garth Brooks - Nice segueway eh? I thought Bucky was pretty good tonight. He's as clueless to big city life as Kellie Pickler (of course Kellie is much cuter about the whole thing). But this song seemed better suited for him and he did get a lot of audience response. Ditz and Dawg agree that it was a great song choice and that he's finding his place in this competition. Simon likes the guy but sees him as the supporting act for the bigger star. I could see that too! Man....with 5 spots already sealed up.....it's gonna be tough for Bucky to sneak in there...but..the fact that I'm thinking about it after I said he should be on his way out last week...is a crazy change of events!
• David Radford - Sinatra "The Way You Look Tonight" - Man...why do they have to murder the greatest songs of all time? David was back in crooning form. And throughout the whole performance I just kept thinking "haven't we already done this? Don't we know where this leads?" Yep....Jon Stevensville. I just don't see the point of letting this guy even have a chance at the top 12. He's NOT going to succeed! Of course, we may have an issue with votefortheworst.com They have their eyes on Mr. Radford too. To sum up, this was a very boring replica of a great song. I agree with Simon though, loved the band.
• Chris Daughtry - Fuel "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)" - Well when Seacrest announced that Fuel would be performed tonight, I don't think there was a question who would be singing it. KEVIN COVAIS!!! oh it just keeps getting funnier! I actually looked forward to Chris all night, because I knew he would hit the song out of the park. He has the perfect voice for a Fuel tune....and I wasn't disappointed. It was fantastic and easily the best performance of the night. Chris came here to play. I'm glad we didn't hear too much from him during the auditions. It was a nice surprise to see him come out as a full-on contender now. Theme nights may be a problem for him, depending on what they're forced to do in that top 12. But I think he'll be up to the challenge. I'm getting excited about this top 12! There should be some heated competitions!

Wow....are we here already? Once again, I have no idea who's getting kicked off the show. I only know who's staying. So we're going to start there!

Who is sailing through to next round? Taylor Hicks, Elliott Yamin, Ace Young, Gedeon McKinney, Chris Daughtry

Who is left? Kevin Covais, Sway, Will Makar, Bucky Covington, David Radford,

Who is probably safe based on tonight? Covais, Bucky

Who does that leave? Sway, Will, Dave

Who do I want out of this competition? Will, Dave

Who will leave this competition on Thursday?
Elimination Picks: Jose "Sway" Penala, David Radford Wildcard: Will Makar

Vote for the Worst can't save both of their victims! Well, that's at least the theory I am going with. And Sway's attitude just irked me. It was almost like he wanted out of the competition. Who is going to pick up the phone to support that? I dont' quite see Will's fans ready to let him go just yet.

Well, that's the best I can do for now. All we can do now, is wait to see if I improve on my 3 for 4 from last week or not even get close at all. I'm content with my decision either way! Okay kiddies...see you tomorrow!