TUESDAY APRIL 24, 2007

Week #7...Tuesday April 24, 2007:

We are down to our final six contestants...3 gals and 3 guys. I was not one of the people that would have thought we would have this many men left at this juncture in the competition...possibly one and no more than two, but at the end of this evening's performances we could have three men and two women left...UNTHINKABLE just seven weeks ago.

#1...Chris Richardson...He sung "If I Could Change the World" by Eric Clapton. He wore a tie and a jacket and impressed all three judges with his performance. Simon criticized him last week for being "nasally" and this week he was not. Simon liked the song choice and told him he was finally living up to the potential they saw in his first audition. This is good news for Chris and his fan base of woman voter's out there. There is a certain gal in New Jersey whose evening started out well tonight.

#2...Melinda Doolittle...She sung "There will Come A Day" by Faith Hill. This song is only 8 years old, a newborn for Melinda; however, Melinda insisted on wearing a gray dress doing her best to maintain that hip-hop American Idol look. I think she thinks the Taylor Hicks old age look is "in". She is doing her best to look older.
As usual, she sung it well and the judges drooled and praised and clapped and yippee kayayed over her performance as they do every week.

#3...Blake Lewis...He sung "Imagine" by John Lennon and of course Randy Jackson thought it was boring because Blake was not John Lennon. John Lennon was gunned down on 12/8/1980 in New York soon after he turned 40 years old by a punk kid named Mark David Chapman...there was no way he could be there Mr. Dog Pound. Last year, you may recall Jackson pushed for a Beatles night after Taylor Hicks sang a Beatles song. The Idol Producers were wise not to do this because Dog Pound would do something like he did tonight...compare it to the original and then crucify the contestant because Randy is such a "big time" producer and he knows this and he knows that...piss on his fire hydrant. He was hired because they needed a black guy for diversity...the only reason.

Simon liked the vocal and thought it was more about the sincerity than the vocal. Paula...who cares?

#4...LaKisha Jones...She sung the Season 3 coronation song "I Believe." She wore a black strapless dress. The judges did not BELIEVE! They were unkind to her and compared her to Fantasia and Fantasia sung the song very well. Simon accused her of shout-singing and last week he also told her that she was shouting. Truthfully, she shouted again. Last week she ending up in the bottom two and only Sanjaya was below her. This week Sanjaya is not there to protect her.

She has a lot of fans in the audience, but her voters have not been showing up on Dial Idol for several weeks and methinks this will be her last night. However, there are plenty of record deals out there and she has a great personality...I wanted her to finish higher than sixth place, but she should still get a career out of this and her life will be better than it would have if she had not been in this competition. Good Bye LaKisha unless Phil leaves before her...not likely.

#5...Phil Stacey...The repitle/alien seems to be finding a groove in country music. Tonight he sung a Garth Brooks song, "The Change." The judges seemed to like him again and Simon advised him to continue going for the country-style songs. Tonights song was by a country singer, but certainly was not a country-style song. Phil sung it well for Phil, but I don't know if the voters will load up on him like they did last week. Vote for the Worst lost their main man/child last week, Sanjaya. They have picked up Phil as the worst singer left in the competition and are asking their voters to vote for Phil.
I think he should be in the bottom 3 this week, but LaKisha should beat him out.

#6...Jordin Sparks...She sung "You'll Never Walk Alone" and just like last week was the top performance of the evening. All of the judges liked her performance and Randy told her that it was one of the best vocals by any Idol on any season; however, she is of color (salt & pepper) and Randy is racist, so you must take his comments with a grain of sea salt. Her two performances back to back from last week to this week may have been the best two consecutive performances ever. Jordin's problem is that even after last week's superb performance, she still finished third behind Chris and Phil. The horny women and discrimating girls still control the final votes...they do not necessarily vote for the best singers. I still don't see the sex appeal of Phil.

My prediction of the bottom 3 are: LaKisha, Phil, and Blake with LaKisha going home.

There should be at least 50 million votes this evening, the most this year...I don't know how this increased vote will effect the final tally. The laws of probability imply that LaKisha, who has been one of the lowest telephone vote getters for many weeks now, will be "squeezed" out.

GOOD BYE Sanjaya Malakar

WEEK #6 ELIMINATION:

Good Bye Sanjaya Malakar...Enough said!

TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2007...Country Western

WEEK #6...COUNTRY WESTERN THEME

Before I begin this weeks comments, let me tell you about Ryan Clark. Ryan was from our county and graduated from one of our local high schools in 2002. His mom is a school teacher and he has a twin brother and a sister. He was one month from graduating college with a 4.0 average with a triple major of Biology, English and Psycholgy and upon graduation was going to pursue a doctorate in Psychology. He was a proud 5th year member of his college marching band and was the Resident Advisor of the West Ambler Johnston Dormatory. He was one of the first two people senselessly murdered at Virginia Tech. His family doesn't even have the money to properly bury him and thankfully our community has set up a fund to help.

The good news this week for me was that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have finally shut up. Typical news was that the whore/slut lying accuser in the Duke rape case was getting scholarship funds from Jesse Jackson. I thought those payments were called "fees" not "tuition," however, we all know that Jesse is rather imaginative with his "tax free" Rainbow Push Coalition gifts and personal welfare payments. Perhaps Senator Leahy of Vermont will explain this accounting to us.

Being a perceived redneck hick from Georgia, I also happen to love Country Music so Martina McBride and her type of music was a wonderful addition to the show for me.
The first country music I ever heard in my life was in early 1968 in Vale, N.C. after basic training and after finishing my various Army schools. I was driving my 1958 MGA from Stamford, Connecticut to Atlanta, Georgia for my final 3 months advanced training before departing for Vietnam. I stopped at a farm in Vale, N.C. to stay for a few days with an army buddy. I had never been on a real farm. I woke up in the morning to eggs and pork chops (not bacon). I couldn't believe it! Later on, I discovered that we were eating a pig from the yard...YIKES! We were eating eggs from the henhouse and for dinner (at 2:00 P.M.) we ate chickens that they killed during that morning. I was in the country and these were real farmers.

That Friday night I witnessed my first and only knife fight in a bar and we left the bar at 2:00 A.M. and got in someone's car that had bucket seats and 4 on the floor and a cooler full of beer in the back seat and drove all night to a place called Rockingham, N.C. and the only thing playing on the radio was COUNTRY MUSIC (not the wonderful sounds of Motown). I did not like the music compared to what I normally listened to (50's 60's Rock and Roll) but in the moment: country, pork chops, knife fight, beer, bucket seats, 4 on the floor, revving engine, etc....the music fit the moment in 1968.

I did not listen to it again until after I married the "Wicked Witch" 15 years later. We finished our trip at a dead end line of cars and trucks and camplers and more cars at 6:00 or 7:00 A.M. Our very drunk driver took an abrupt right turn down a hill and drove across a corn field (before Smokey and the Bandit) and came out of the field ahead of all the other cars (as is customary for me, I was not drunk but quite alarmed...they laughed and hooted and rebel yelled) and we proceeded thru a pay gate into the infield of a huge racetrack (Rockingham). I had never even heard of car racing nor had I ever seen a racetrack with banked roadways. Loud engines, motor homes, pretty girls...I thought I was in outer space. Who ever heard of Richard Petty in Connecticut?

I clearly remember my first exposure to country music and Rockingham (which got rained out after several hours) and my trip thru the cornfield on my way in and on the way out my trip back thru the same cornfield to avoid the traffic and a car full of drunken full blooded southerners...the 4 on the floor, the bucket seats...the country drunks...the pork chops...the dead pigs and chickens..."Jesus took the wheel!"

I had recently turned 21 and just months later I was in Pleiku, Vietnam sitting on sand bags near our shelter sipping beer and observing our returning dead body truck convoy getting attacked just 3-4 miles away returning from Kontum and Dak To near the Cambodian Border...every day. I lived thru it and returned home all grown up.
Again, "Jesus had taken the wheel!"

American Idol this evening gave us Phil performing great for him without his silly ear covering hats and Sanjaya turning in his worst effort ever.

#1...Phil Stacey...He sung a Keith Urban song and for once showed some personality and all 3 judges, the two baffoons and Simon, really liked him. Voters on Dial Idol had him in second or third place last week and yet he was in bottom two. Tonight he is the top vote getter BY FAR as of 1:15 A.M. Methinks his voting public does not know how to text and the text people are voting to keep the others ahead of him and he may have a telephone superiority and gets a lot of busy signals that don't hold up overnight. We are down to only 6 kids and one old lady so bottom 3 is easy for any of the borderline people to make. His performance does not justify him going there tomorrow. He may not be in the bottom 3.

#2...Jordin Sparks...She sung "Broken Wing" (or whatever the real name of ths song is) that Martina McBride made famous and as we say down here "She done it proud."
WOW! WOW! WOW! Simon ended the rave reviews with "You could win American Idol."

#3...Sanjaya Malakar...Simon said it best "UTTERLY HORRIBLE!"
I think that Sanjaya, whom I really like (however I don't want him to win American Idol) is taking his newfound success wrong. In other words, this week showed us that Sanjaya's success has gone to his head like his hair. He has finally become so cocky that his song choice was foolhardy and improper. There was no way that he could sing the song so it sounded TERRIBLE and his amateur cuteness is now successful cockiness. I don't think his fans will appreciate this type of arrogance (and he needs fans to go along with his other non fan voters). At this time on Dial Idol, he has finally lost his customary "safe" place near the top of the standings and is DEAD LAST; however, Lakisha is in her near last place where she usually resides.
HE SHOULD BE GONE!!! I SAID IT HERE! I have been his apologist until tonight. I think arrogance did him in!

#4...Lakisha...Country Music may have taken out one of the good ones and one of my Fab 3 this evening. Maybe not tonight, but the seed is planted. I think Sanjaya is going home, but Lakisha has not been doing as well as people think these past several weeks. She has been moving downhill since her opening few weeks and tonight was no exception. She oversung the Carrie Underwood song and at times was "SHOUTING" 'Jesus Take the Wheel.'

We just celebrated Jesus rising from the grave and now Lakisha is yelling at him to "take the wheel." As much as I like Lakisha, she may be taking the wheel herself and driving herself home soon if she continues to make these poor song choices.
The Dial Idol vote predictors have had her in last place or next to last place for the past two weeks. However, the text message votes have kept her out of the bottom three. In the past, the Country Music genre has set a tone from a poor performance that hurts a decent singer later in the competition. This could be the case with Lakisha.

#5...Chris Richardson...He sung "Mayberry" from Rascal Flats and tried to explain the nasal tone as "on purpose." Simon said the performance was "insignificant." As usual, I thought Chris' performance was horrible. I know the guy is cute and has a great personality, but I beg you, get rid of this everybody wantabe...I know that Sanjaya earned his walking papers this evening, but please, dear God...send Chris Richardson packing...He is no Idol. He is a nice boy with a cute smile and personality. Hire him as a singing birthday card telegram boy!
This one ought to get me hate mail. Chris is the #2 vote getter, according to Dial Idol, just behind Phil and both ahead of Jordin. Only women and girls could possibly be voting for this guy. They should lose their right to vote! (smile)

#6...Melinda Doolittle...She found an old country song. Last week, she chose a song that was 50 years old. In my opinion, this song choice was fitting for this contestant...OLD and BORING...Yawn! I know that Melinda is the favorite singer among the judges, among this blog, among my friends, among the back-up singers, and among the nation...I may be the only one that hopes she makes it to the final two and then LOSES! My apologies to Jersey Girl. I don't think American Idol should be for old professional boring, meely mouse singers. Tonight she sung a song really well, as usual...I could care less. For once, the Dial Idol voters seem to agree and instead of leading the vote getters, she is in 4th place behind Phil, Chris (horny women/girls), and Jordin, out of 7. God forbid someone makes her sing a modern song from 10 or 20 years out...She may have a panic attack and go berserk. However...to the glee of all of you...She is safe!

#7...Blake Lewis...He is not a fan of this genre, but took a stab at a slow song and did O.K. Hopefully, he will survive until next week. I still think he can win this thing, unless Jordin or Melinda take it. My only worry for Blake is that except for last week, when he may have been the top vote getter, he does not score overly well each week. This week, Dial Idol says he will be in the bottom 2...Except for lowly Sanjaya, Blake is only 1% ahead of Sanjaya and Lakisha is almost tied with Blake.
He is in deep trouble unless text messages bring him ahead of Sanjaya and Lakisha.
Lakisha seems to do well with the texters. Blake does not appeal to women and young girls. I guess it is a gay thing? How else do you explain it? Rarely is talent measured and voted on this year.

Summary: Finally, I believe Sanjaya is gone. If not Sanjaya, then I believe Chris should go, but Dial Idol tells me I am wrong and I have been wrong before, but they are wrong almost every week. Lakisha sung country and got burned. In the past, good singers have been sent home after Country Song Week. I find it hard to believe that Lakisha could go and Sanjaya could stay. Arrogance trumps innocence and I believe that Sanjaya was arrongant and terrible...He should go. I will miss him, but I never miss arrogance.

Blake may be the most overall talented person in the competition. Jordin is the most exciting and would make the best long term American Idol.

Melinda will most likely win it, but has been a back-up singer for 100 years for a reason...Lack of ambition, DULL, BORING, SNOOZE...however, NICE, KIND, DROP DEAD GORGEOUS...The end.

Good Bye HALEY SCARNATO...Week #5 ELIMINATION

Good Bye Haley Scarnato...Week #5 Elimination

Haley the stripper left us this evening with Phil Stacey runner up and Chris Richardson filling out the bottom three. Not much of a surprise to any of the viewers.

Next week will be Country Music week with Guest Mentor, Martina McBride.

This coming week is when some of the better singers seem to flop; however, we have so few good singers in this competition, I am curious if the show can flop any lower.
Rating were down 30% this week over last year at the same juncture. Eliminating Haley Scarnato will help with the credibility issue, but as Sanjaya gains in popularity the ratings will likely stay in the dump.

FINAL 10...WEEK #5...Tuesday, April 10, 2007

WEEK #5...Tuesday, April 10, 2007

I think a short summary of tonight's performances from Rachel on the Atlanta Urinal Constitional Newspaper Blog says it the best:

"Hello! I've never posted before but I read this blog pretty frequently and you guys are very funny. The show was very boring over all tonight. Blake was the best by far, Melinda, Lakisha and Jordin were good but not up to usual standards. Haley and Sanjaya were as everyone expects them to be. I liked Phil a little better than the judges did. Finally, Chris....I think I must have heard a very different performance than the judges did. He was a complete disaster. It actually hurt my ears to listen to him. He has not been one of my favorites but I was liking him better after last week. Not so any more. If I weren't so ready for Sanjaya to leave I'd say Chris deserves to go home this week." Rachel


Here is my summary: Jennifer Lopez was the mentor this evening and I thought she did a nice job even though she is more renown for her dancing, acting and her famous azz than she is for her singing abilities. The Latin songs are always tough for the Idol contestants to pull off and tonight was no exception.

#1...Melinda Doolittle...Simon didn't like it and thought her singing was lazy and wood like, but I thought she did O.K. not WOW! She looked much better with her hair flipped up and she wore a black dress.

2...Lakisha attempted to sing a lively dance tune, but Lakisha doesn't dance very well. None of the judges liked it. The Dial Idol phone polls indicate that the voters didn't like it either. Lakisha needs to start improving or get back to her booming balads or she will be going home as soon as the riff raff is elimated. Lakisha is in last place tonight as of 11:45 P.M.

#3...Chris Richardson tried to sing Carlos Santanta but it came out sounding like Carlos Timberlake...Barf! Barf! Barf! Actually, I left the room because it was so distasteful to me. The song was supposed to be "Smoothe" and Chris roughed it up badly. A man named "Mike" from the AJC blog site said this about the performance:
"COMPLETE AND UTTER DISASTER to say that SUCKED is an insult to Suckers."

#4...Haley the stripper...Haley wore some short shorts and a semi see through blouse. Nice choice of clothes. Her song choice and performance were not as bad as Chris Richardson's. Simon told Haley that each week she was wearing less clothes than the week before or something to that effect and that her strategy was working. Her legs are indeed fantastic looking and each week she is showing more and more skin. She should be in the bottom three again, but may be safe.

#5...Phil Stacey...Phil covered his bald head with a silly hat and sung another bland and blah song. Simon told him that the song had no originality and it was lifeless. You already know that I think that Phil is a reptile...possibly a snake...He needs to go, maybe tomorrow, but Chris was so bad, Phil may be safe.

#6...Jordin Sparks...I usually don't quote Randy, but Jordin got a "Yo" from Randy. I didn't think she did that well and Simon told her it was "just O.K." For the second week in a row as far as I am concerned, this girl, who I really like, just did O.K. and not really well like she should be doing. Last week, the voters, according to Dial Idol, did not like her and she finished 4th from the bottom. Tonight she is second from the bottom (Lakisha is last) at 11:45 P.M. There are still several hours to go (West Coast and Text Messages and final tabulations) and of course, Dial Idol accuracy problems (Phil Stacy finished second from the top last week and he was in the bottom 3 last week). However, my prediction is that only Melinda of my Fab 3 seems to be moving towards the American Idol title with consistent performances and top votes week after week.

#7...Blake Lewis...He sung very well tonight. Simon said that he had the "best song choice" of the evening and was the "best performance so far." Based on the fact that the women are not stepping up to the plate and improving, the possibility exists that Blake will be moving to the final 2 with Melinda. This evening, he appears to be the top vote getter ahead of Melinda.

8...Sanjaya Malakar...Last but not least, the star of the show. Sanjaya grew a slight mustache and a goatee for this evening's performance and he actually performed halfway decent. Simon told him that he didn't understand a word that he sung (the lyrics were mostly in Spanish) but as much as it pained him to say so, he sung them O.K. Sanjaya should not be in the bottom 3 tomorrow.

I expect that Phil, Haley, and Chris will be in the bottom 3 with Phil or Chris going home. Haley may still be safe because she brings some excitement to a boring competition.

However, don't be surprised to see Lakisha down there one of these days if she doesn't improve. I didn't hate her performance like the judges tonight. In fact, I especially like Lakisha and Jordin. Blake was the big surprise this evening and in this competition because he seems to be improving and attempting to challenge Melinda a bit. Melinda is still the big favorite and if she loses it will be an upset. Sanjaya and Haley add some needed entertainment to this years show.

Good Bye GINA GLOCKSEN...Week #4 Elimination

Elimination Week #4, April 4, 2007

As I suspected, we lost Gina Glocksen this evening. She was not the worst singer in a singing competition. In fact, she sung much better than Sanjaya and Haley Scarnato, but alas, Haley has the "trifecta" working for her..."puppies, legs, and azz"...These are tough attributes to overcome in a singing competition.

Haley was even considerate enough this evening to dress appropriately for the elimination show tonight. She "eliminated" more clothes than she had on last night. What dedication! The girl has some legs...WOW!

Sanjaya has his own "trifecta" working for himself, but I defy anyone to name three attributes; however, "it" appears to be one of them.

We will miss Gina's wonderful attitute and bubbly personality, but we all knew she was going to be leaving us fairly soon.

Good bye Gina.

FINAL 10...WEEK #4...Tuesday, April 3, 2007

WEEK #4...TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2007

Tony Bennett was here tonight "Old Timer's Night" on American Idol. Wake me up when it's over...Snore, snore, snore. I guess they figured if they were losing audience to Dancing with the Stars that they could recapture some of the older fans with this snoozer. Also, methinks that the only way they were going to get rid of the girls was to bring in the old man. I think it may have worked. All of the men should be safe tonight.

I know what you are thinking. What about Sanjaya? Does it matter? Egads, he's safe!

Thankfully, Haley Scarnato left her undergarments at home this week and sent the old biddies scampering back to Dancing with the Stars.

#1...Blake Lewis...sung "Mack the Knife" and Simon thought it was a "good song choice" and gave him a 7 out of 10.

#2...Phil Stacey...the repitle and/or alien sung "Night and Day". The gang did not like him and Simon summed it up for all 3 of them when he said it sounded like "all of the joy of someone singing in a funeral parlor...gloomy and dark." I think that critique fit the song title pretty well..."night and day." However, Phil shot back that he was just singing it to his wife. He loved her. Good answer and this will get the eyeball head a lot of sympathy votes. He's safe.

#3...Melinda Doolittle...She sung a song about having rhythm and of course, sung it perfectly. She needs to do something about her neck. Seriously, she looks like a singing tree stump, but she sounds fantastic and she is very nice. She may graduate to a mushroom some day. She'll be top vote getter on Dial Idol, as usual.

#4...Chris Richardson...He did O.K. and sung something that Simon thought was young and current. Again, all of the males are safe tonight.

#5...Jordin Sparks...She sung "On a Clear Day." I think she is regressing and I did not like this song choice at all. Boring and she was boring. Simon had the line of the night concerning his two partners, who really liked Jordin. He disagreed and said that although she sounded very well, she was not young and current like Chris Richardson. Paula and Randy were loudly protesting and he said "Squigly and Digly" disagree. Perfect names for those two baffoons. I don't think Jordin will be going home, but I wouldn't be surprised if she is in the bottom 3.

#6...Gina Glocksen...She sung "Smile" and Simon did not like it "Can't rave about the vocal." I think Gina is in trouble tonight. Of course, Squigly and Digly liked her.

#7...Sanjaya...He wore white and had his long hair slicked back. He looked cool. He sung "Cheek to Cheek" and sashayed over to Paula and gave her a spin as if he were on Dancing with the Stars. Who cares if he can't sing? He is having fun. He is safe and will most likely be in the top 4 again this evening. Not as safe as last week, but who knows...he should be safe.

#8...Haley "strip tease" Scarnato...No talent, show some boobs, show a lot of leg...she should be in the bottom 2, but possibly she will be safe to take off a few more clothes for us next week. Her fiance' must be fuming. Like Sanjaya, she gets it, and I predict...she is going to be a centerfold some day soon and singing all the way to the bank.

#9...Lakisha Jones...Simon said tht she was "Sassy" and she definitely seemed to do well. Dial Idol says that the voters are not voting for her (second to last place at 1:30 A.M.).

Predictions: Gina gone and Haley standing beside her at the end...Possibly Jordin bottom 3. If Haley is not in the bottom 2, then the boobs hanging out was a great move. Since this was men's night, we knew this already.

Worst singing performances this evening...Haley, Sanjaya, Gina.

As of 2:00 A.M., the voting from 1-9 is so close that only Melinda is considered "safe" on Dial Idol and she is only a little over 1% ahead of Phil Stacey.
Haley Scarnato has finally moved to last place at 7.2 and Lakisha is at 7.29 and Gina is at 7.3 and Jordin is at 7.35 before the voting moves up into the 9% range. Our buddy Sanjaya is pretty safe in third place with 10.61%; however there are no text messages included and Dial Idol is only batting 75%.