American Idol - Top 11 Perform

Just look at these goofballs above. One of these people will be the next idol! Probably not the guy on the top right, but surprisingly he might not be going home again...and NOT because of Howard Stern's mission...because there were people that were downright worse than him tonight! That's right, Howard Stern has joined forces with Votefortheworst.com in support of keeping Sanjaya on the show. Well we'll get to his performance in a bit. For now, let's talk about how excited the contestants were. Apparently, they don't care about winning anymore, they just want to make the top 10 so they can go on tour. Way to aim small! I think with a theme night as broad as the 60's British Invasion, I just expected a better selection of songs. And now, that may all come to what songs they had the rights to. It seems that this theme night evolved from last year when Taylor sang the Beatles "Something" and Randy thought a Beatles night would be a really cool idea. I would agree. But no Beatles songs were chosen even though they were credited with initiating the British Invasion! Now, I did hear rumors that they were trying to get Paul McCartney on the show this year for a theme night, so maybe this is why there were no Beatles songs performed. But I'd save a cool theme night like a Beatles night for a better crop of contestants than this season's kids.

Still, there were some good to really good performances tonight and it's becoming very clear who are the frontrunners and who are the pretenders in this competition. We had Peter Noone and Lulu (yep, I don't make this up) helping the contestants learn about the 60's. Both of them were complete lunatics, but it made for entertaining commentaries! Let's break down the performances!

• Haley Scarnato - "Tell Him" - Not much to talk about with the vocals on this performance, as Simon suggested. Most people will be discussing the outfit and the shaking she was doing. There was some high comedy in watching Randy dance and of course the "Simon-Staredown" as Haley danced in front of him. But the vocal? Eh....not so good. Not awful either. Of course you gotta love Paula telling a female that she has a "Girlish quality".....well thanks Paula! Of course, compared to some of the other females in this competition...... you know what? That's just mean of me...let's move on! Haley is on the edge of being safe or bottom 3....I'm still thinking about it!
• Chris Richardson - "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" - Chris finally broke out of his "I wanna be like Blake" mold by taking on this Jerry and the Pacemakers tune. And you gotta love when that crazy guitar guy gets some camera-time. I always wonder how the backup band feels about being on American Idol. This guy looks like he's having the time of his life whether he's playing some acoustic guitar...or living his rock-star dream by jamming on the electric. Ahh good times! Anyways, back to Chris. I thought it was a bit boring, but those are ballads for you. I was impressed that he finally sang in tune for the whole performance. Chris will definitely reel in the ladies to his cause and Paula will be first in line after that "SEXY" arrangement. Thanks Paula for giving us the words we can never think of!
• Stephanie Edwards - "You Don't Have to Say You Love me" - Ahh Dusty Springfield. Once I heard Steph was doing a Dusty song, I just figured she'd do "Son of a Preacher Man" But no, she picked this one. Should've been an out of the ballpark performance. I don't know what it is with Stephanie singing behind the music. Does she think it sounds good? or can she just not keep time? Add on top of that some excruciating notes ..Steph is in trouble! And if you recall last week, I called her a Beyonce clone. Well, Lulu jumped to MY cause and agreed with me! Crazy LOON! I might just like her! (Lulu, not Stephanie!) Anyways, bottom 3 is a sure thing for Miss Edwards. Too many diva wannabes in this competition for her to survive much longer.
• Blake Lewis - "Time of the Season" - Blake went back to his beatboxing craziness this week and definitely geeked out with his attire. I mean a Pink Shirt with Pajama pants? Blake is trying to modernize every song he performs this season and somehow he convinced the band to make beatbox noises for him this week as he did the ROBOT on stage. Seriously, these crazy dance routines need to stop! Other than that, his performance was pretty good. He is fulfilling his role this season as the intriguing guy. And Nigel Lythgow (producer) was getting DOWN in the audience! That's always worth some comedy! I will agree with the judges that he was the best of the 4 that had performed at this point and definitely safe this week.
• Lakisha Jones - "Diamonds are Forever" - Once I heard Lakisha wanted to do that song, I just started cracking up. Lakisha taking on a James Bond song? My oh my...And it's not like it's the greatest song in the world. Most Bond songs are awful because they are named after the movie! Exception? Paul McCartney's "Live & Let Die." Anyway, KiKi comes out sporting some crazy diamonds (enjoy it while you can!) which Paula estimated to be 1 Million dollars. Okay Paula, it's American Idol, not the Oscars! Anyway, at one point I really thought she was going to eat the Microphone.....it was blocking her whole face for the majority of the performance. And all I could see was her doing some kind of Hoola Dance. And, in addition to Chris Sligh, we can add Lakisha to the group of annoying Lisps in this competition! The judges weren't merciful on her this week either. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if she got a bottom 3 scare. But I'm going to say she is safe anyway.
• Alien Guy - "Tobacco Road" - All I had in my notes for Phil Stacey this week was....."HUH?" The dude was just goofy again. He was ALSO in the bottom 3 last week and this song did not help win over any more voters. And I still can't take him seriously! I couldn't even take Taylor, Chris Daughtry and Kevin Covais seriously when they sang this song in last year's finale! (oh wait...like I was supposed to?!) As Simon said, the guy is just not believable. And come on, he looks like an ALIEN! Could be the end of the road for Phil. But I'm going to say a girl will probably get the boot this week just so it doesn't get too lopsided too quickly.
• Jordin Sparks - "I Who Have Nothing" - Yeah, I'm not changing my stance from last week. This girl has something going for her right now and she needs to keep it up. 17 years old, and she still has my vote. I had chills after that performance. It was mezmorizing, on key and believable! And I still can see her actually having a marketable future. Pretty soon she won't be a sleeper pick anymore and she will be the 2nd favorite to win. Based on the last 2 weeks, I would say she has outshone Lakisha in both performances. There still is that Melinda issue we'll have to deal with, but all in good time!
• Sanjaya Malakar - "You Really Got Me" - Sanjaya and the Kinks....match made in heaven. Well, when you have nothing to lose, I guess you just have to go crazy and run around like a nut, eh? Hey, it was Peter Noone's recommendation. He suggested it was NOT a singing competition, but a VOTING competition....and well, Sanjaya may have just done the perfect thing to win over actual votes while still keeping the WORST vote in his back pocket. The judges were left speechless and there was a little girl in the audience who kept crying....and the cameras would not leave her alone! Now, I thought this was ashame for awhile.....but then I just kept thinking...why on earth is this girl crying? Now, I did my share of crying for no reason when I was 8 (hell...maybe when I was 12 too)....and putting a camera on me didn't help the cause too much. But come on KID, these are reality TV stars! Those tears can't be genuine! Anyway...I may have a hard time putting Sanjaya in the bottom 3 this week. He just wasn't bad enough....but maybe this will make voters not as convinced to vote for him. I just don't know! We have a few more to review...then I'll worry about that!
• Gina Glocksen - "Paint it Black" - Ahhh Gina. It's almost like she was forced into this "ROCKER" role this year by the judges/producers. She tried to change it up during the semi-finals, but the judges called her on it....so now she's taking it to the extreme with her Daughtry Chains, and Red and Black hair. And her SCREAMING and changing of classic Rolling Stones Melodies......ahh Gina, there may be no forgiveness for this one. And what was up with the DRUMMER smiling as he drummed his drum? That was creepy wasn't it? Gina Gina, bottom 3 for you is very likely!
• Chris Sligh "She's Not There" - Good song, but Chris Sligh is singing it. Was this the guy that I suggested might turn into the next Scott Savol? I think we're close folks. And that lisp? ugh....awful! It's getting worse each week. You'd think he'd pick songs with less S's...or maybe none at all! He danced around the crowd and high fived people...the judges seemed to like it. It wasn't the worst thing possible, but I just get less enthused by his schtick (or should I say "thshtick"??) each week. He should be safe this week though. His "FRO" patrol will keep him alive (seriously? be original dude!)
• Melinda Doolittle "As Long as He Needs Me" - What's there to say? She's a fantastic singer. An old Pro. There's only one thing we can do! Focus on her flaws! How about the squinting eyes when she performs, the hunched over-old lady posture, the head that's too big for the rest of her body? Am I mean? Sure am! But hey, fair is fair, I called Phil Stacey an Alien! So the question is, if this competition comes down to Melinda vs Jordin....who is going to sell more albums? Am I shallow by going with Jordin? I don't think so. I just think she has more of the full package. But hey....Fantasia won in season 3, Taylor won last year...so anything is possible! But guess who is selling the best? Pretty Girls also with Talent...Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood. Full Package folks! All that being said, I'll step off my soapbox for another day and say that I do like Melinda and think she has a fantastic talent, but she's not my cup of tea!!! (my nod to the British Invasion this week) She will be safe for a very long time though.
  

Okay, so let's try and beat dialidol.com 2 weeks in a row!

Who is safe? Lakisha, Melinda, Jordin, Chris R, Blake, Chris S
Borderline? Sanjaya, Haley
Not Safe? Phil, Stephanie, Gina

Bottom 3: Phil Stacey, Stephanie Edwards, Haley Scarnato Wildcard: Sanjaya Malakar Bonus Wildcard: Gina Glocksen

Elimination Pick: Stephanie Edwards - You just wanted to be in that top 10 too badly, you forgot to show up and actually perform! In case you want to hear yourself on a professional recording, just pick up any Beyonce or Destiny's Child album and you should be good to go. It may even sound better than you ever did!

Yeah, it's all reverse psychology. Putting Sanjaya in the wildcard spot, might actually get him booted from the show! But Stephanie has overstayed her welcome, so it wouldn't be too sad to see her get kicked off either. We'll see what happens Wednesday night!

As always, my controversial commentary is meant to drive in additional comments at the bottom of this blog! We'll see if I pulled it off this week! What does everyone else think? See you tomorrow for the results!