American Idol

Upcoming Idol Theme

I thought this was an April Fools Joke when I first heard it.  From the American Idol News page:

“…on Tuesday, April 11th, the Top 8 Contestants will take on the music of the legendary Rock Band, QUEEN. Will someone be able to top Constantine’s performance of Bohemian Rhapsody? Tune in to find out! Then, come back on Wednesday for a special hour episode, when the Top 8 will also perform a QUEEN song or medley! “

QUEEN??!!?? An entire night of QUEEN?  Oh, peeps, we’re looking at total train-wreck potential, methinks.  These narrow theme nights are tough as it is, but I’m trying to imagine some of these kids tackling Freddie Mercury’s over the top rock stylings.  Actually, Chris Daughtry will probably fair the best.  Ha, propping up the Chosen One maybe?  There are a few nice ballads that Katharine might be able to handle.  I have a feeling Taylor will find some way to pull it off.  Some of the more R&B flavahed contestants like Elliott, Mandisa and Paris might have problems.  And if Bucky lasts…..stuck in a loop trying to imagine Bucky singing Queen….TRYING TO IMAGINE KELLIE SINGING QUEEN….my brain just exploded. Note to Ace:  Just say NO to Bohemian Rhapsody, mmmkay? Thanks.

But the good news!!! A Queen Medley!  Cannot Wait!! My Prayers have been answered!  The CHEESY Goodness returns!  Horrifying awesomeness is just around the corner! Hooray!

OK, I’m calm now.

April Fools!

Thanks to the reader who posted this April Fools parody in the comments section.  It’s from realityblurred.com.  Since I’m not clever–instead of writing up my own April Fools joke, I’ll post someone else’s!

I laughed so hard reading this at work, that co-workers turned to look at me:

“News Corp., continuing to acquire popular online properties, has purchased American Idol-focused sites DialIdol and Vote for the Worst. The sites will be folded into the company’s MySpace community once the checks clear and/or FOX Security finishes their friendly visits with the web sites’ owners.

The plan, a FOX spokesperson said, is to let MySpace community members edit DialIdol and Vote for the Worst’s web sites with Thomas’ MySpace Editor, thus making the sites illegible and impossible to visit. ‘We’re positive that, once the text is fluorescent green on a background that’s an animated gif, and a Scott Savol song blares at top volume the second the page loads, no one will want to visit any more. They’ll be too busy having seizures. The threat will be neutralized—I mean, the fans will have control,’ the spokesperson said.”

Oh man, the MySpace riff is priceless.  Perfect description of your typical hideously annoying Myspace Page.

“The network is also acquiring seven unnamed reality TV-focused blogs, particularly those that post incoherent, poorly written recaps of FOX shows. Specifically, those that have journalism-sounding words in their URLs and regularly post press releases verbatim are being targeted. A FOX VP told reporters, ‘It’s so great to know that these blogs truly understand journalism and critical analysis. These are smart people, copying and pasting our press releases and posting them in order to sell Google ads, sneak into Google News, and inflate their BlogAds pageviews.’”

Gosh, hope the writer doesn’t mean me.  Oh, right, can’t be.  I haven’t gotten around to the Google Ad thing, and nobody sends me press releases…

And I thought I was into conspiracy theories…

The spoof is probably mocking sites like this, that post articles with headlines like, “American Idol Shocker - Were The Phones Working On The West Coast?”  The writer jumps to the incredible conclusion, with no real proof whatsoever, that there could have been a problem with the West coast phone lines.  Why?  Because the 3 West coasters from the Top 10 all landed in the Bottom 3 this week.  He asks, “ How could all three contestants from a relatively small state like North Carolina avoid the bottom three while two contestants from a large state like California wind up in the bottom three?”.  Uhhm–because which contestants viewers choose to support has little to do with geography?  Oh yeah, I voted my little fingers off for Ayla Brown. Not.

Reading the article did remind me of something I missed, but others picked up:  On Wednesday’s show, Ryan never announnced how many millions and millions of viewers cast votes for the contestants. He nearly always mentions how many overall votes were counted.

Folks are pretty much assuming the vote totals overall were way down this week.

TMZ Gossip

Check out the American Idol gossip page at TMZ.com.  TMZ may have been a teensy bit hard up for “news” this week.  I think I might be, too:

• Lisa Tucker was not surprised by her boot this week.  Her mom hung out with her all day Wednesday to lend moral support
• The contestants meet for a “farewell dinner” after the boot show at the Universal CityWalk’s  ”Buca di Beppo”, one of those family-style Italian restaurants with insanely huge portions.  It’s supposed to be some kind of scoop (it’s not) and they’ve posted a little 1 minute video of the idols heading to the parking garage.  It’s hilarious, some of the looks the Idol’s shoot (Check out Katharine, Elliott and Paris) toward the camera people are priceless.
• Shakira almost cancelled her performance because the singer wanted her band, and Idol refused to pay for them.  In the end, Shakira got her way. What was the point? She lip-synched anyway.
• Beyonce’s father, Matthew Knowles, was hanging out backstage to support Paris Bennett as she sang his daughter’s 2003 song, ‘Work It Out.’
• David Della Terza of Votefortheworst.com is interviewed by TMZ.  Check out his pad and hear how he’s received “death threats” from enraged Kellie Pickler fans.  You probably know she’s the site’s pick for “Vote for the Worst” at the moment.

More Useless Gossip:  Ryan Seacrest is dating Terri Hatcher.  April Fools!  Nevermind.

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More From Me (I think I’m done editing now)

I just received a very thoughtful comment from Joe,  that I’d really like to address.

He said this: “You mention in your ‘review’ how you couldn’t imagine her [Katharine] as a contemporary pop star, but you seem to overlook what seems blatantly obvious, neither can Taylor.”

I’ve never mentioned it, but I agree.  I think Taylor is a niche performer in just the same way Katharine is.  The difference is that Taylor hasn’t been over-pimped by the press as the heir apparent.  Katharine has been cited in many columns and articles as the contestant who deserves to take the crown this year. If she won, I can’t imagine what kind of pop record she would make.  I think she’s at her best when singing standards, but falls flat when she goes contemporary.

This may upset some Taylor fans.  While I hope he lasts long enough for maximum exposure–enough to get a label interested in signing him–I’d rather see him not win if I’m being really selfish about it. I can’t really imagine Taylor making a Top 40 record, either.  But neither can the press or the Idol producers, which is why he’s not predicted to win and why Idol is pushing so hard for Chris.  Chris IS Top 40 material.

Katharine is a better technical singer than Bucky, but I stand by my opinion that Bucky outperformed her on Tuesday.  At least he stayed in tune.

These comments are awesome, by the way.  I dig lively discussion.

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The Top 10 Results - vidcaps later, I promise

Bye, bye Lisa Tucker.

Ok.  That was SO NOT SHOCKING.  I posted an interview with Nigel Lythgoe earlier, and he said that tonight’s Bottom 3 would be “worse than the 3 Divas in the Bottom 3.”

Unless ya think having three of the worst-performing contestants of the night making up the Bottom 3 is shocking–I think not.

There is a big difference between tonight’s Bottom 3 and The Three Diva’s Bottom! Three! Shocking! Moment! The Divas all performed well the night they landed in the bottom, particularly Jennifer Hudson–who wound up getting the boot (oh the humanity–I nearly gave up on AI that week–such a big fuss over a stoopid TV show…).

Tonight’s Bottom 3? NO. So Nigel?  Just stop it.

Tonight’s SHOCKING SHOCKING recap

Oooh look - Jessica Sierra from Season 4, in the house…

Ford Commercial - The Idols gave out Popsicles to confused passersby. Taylor Hicks danced with some old lady.  And…uhhm…..huh?  Bucky played guitar!  That’s supposed to sell cars? Ok then.

The Death of the Pointy Pose

Dang, peeps.  Barry Manilow last week, Shakira and Wyclef Jean this week.  Next week, Travis Tritt.  Rod Stewart coming up.  I think the incredibly beautifully horrifyingly entertaining group numbers are gone for good.  SOB.  I loved the group numbers.  I looked forward to the group numbers.  The cheesier and more badly choreographed the better.  And medleys.  Must…have…medleys.  Loved loved loved the medleys.  And of course, the big big finish…with all the idols frozen in beauty-pageant pose–fingers pointed skyward.  I always watch for the contestant who’s giggling through the pointy pose–or rolling his eyes.  Eye roll during pointy pose = My Instant Favorite. Hee.

Really, except for last season’s insanely cheesy finale medley, (featuring Beach Boys songs!) there hasn’t been a decent group number since Season 3.  Week two of the semis, with the girls leading on “Love the One Your With,” showed promise.  But it looks like I’m just gonna have to have a moment of silence for the Pointy Pose…and move on….sniff.

Shakira and Wyclef Jean

Shakira did some belly-dancing thing.  She’s very pretty.  I like that she’s not a skinny stick.  And she can really shake her thang.  But while the dance moves were good, the lip-syncing was really bad.  Simon would have sent poor Shakira packing at the audition stage, I’m afraid.  The performance was very peppy, though.  Wyclef rapped.  Honestly, I don’t have much more to say.  I really only listen to rock music.  The modern R&B Hip-Hop stuff kinda loses me.  But I prefer this to Barry Manilow’s corpse-like performance last week.  Just wait ’til next week and Travis Tritt.  I get Country music even less. Especially the stuff that’s played on the radio nowadays.  Heh, when Wyclef Jean jumped into the audience, I think he scared Simon. 

Lookey! It’s Justin Guarini, AI1–grooving with Wyclef!!!

The SHOCKING SHOCKING Bottom Three - Hey, Nigel said it was shocking.  And, who am I to question Nigel? Ahem.

Ryan tells the audience that he’s “looking for the three people with the lowest number of votes.”  This is very important, because Ryan doesn’t always state specifically that the three contestants pulled out to stand on the seal are the lowest vote getters.  Being vague in this regard gives the producers leeway to stage a bottom three for maximum shock value.  Or maybe to motivate the fan base of a chosen one.   No rules broken–it’s just good Tee Vee kiddies.

The eliminations begin. Ryan pans the entire bottom row:  Mandisa, Chris, Kelly, Taylor and Paris are safe.  The five sitting in the back row:  Elliott, Lisa, Ace, Katharine and Bucky–could be bottom three.  Katharine and Ace did not look happy.

Perfect time for a break!

Elliott Yamin is up first.  He clowns around to break the tension.  He is quickly told that he’s safe.  I breath a sigh of relief.  Lisa Tucker is next.  She’s smiling.  She knows.  Ryan sends her to the seal.  Ace Young is next.  He looks like he’s going to barf.  Gah, the poor guy. He’s just so nervous all the time.  I like Ace.  I’d be a fan if it weren’t for that whole his-singing-really-sucks deal. Ace is again bottom three.  He smiles slightly and heads for the seal. 

Ugh.  It’s down to Katharine McPhee and Bucky Covington.  The Aloof Sophisticate and the Sweet Country Boy.  She of the Royal Pimpage.   He of the Simon-Can’t-Ditch-Him Fast Enough.  No wonder they went ahead and pulled the lowest vote getters. Can’t get better than this. Katharine is sent to the seal.  This is what Nigel meant when he said the Bottom Three would be shocking.  But ya know what?  Bucky outperformed Katharine Tuesday.  Handily.  People are booing.  Stop booing, people–the contestant who wound up on the seal deserved to be there.  Sorry Katharine–don’t suck so much next time.

Back from break.  Ace has that spaced-out deer-in-the-headlights look he gets when he’s standing in front of the judges.  I think the competition–the stress and the criticism–is wearing him down.  Lisa smiles her big gorgeous smile.  She’s prepared for what’s coming.  Katharine nervously rubs her lips together.  Ace is sent back first.  He doesn’t even look relieved–just shell shocked.

Ryan asks the judges what they think.  Simon back-pedals furiously on Katharine as he explains how he watched her performance back and it was nowhere near as good as he thought it was.  Honestly, I don’t think he ever believed she was good in the first place.  He was propping her up with false compliments, and when Kat ended up in the bottom three anyway, he covered his butt.  Katharine looked  pissed.  I don’t blame her.

The SHOCKING SHOCKING Elimination - Only Not.

Finally, Lisa is sent home with a proper sing-out. 

I thought she might stick around another week after the judges criticized her harshly and she almost started to cry.  But, with Lisa in the Bottom 3  two weeks in a row–her expiration date was past due.  Like the other teens, Kevin and Will, I think Lisa was a little too young for the competition–despite the fact she had years of show-business experience under her belt.  She was comfortable on camera–that wasn’t the problem.  That vocally and emotionally she hadn’t matured yet, meant she was completely outmatched by her much older competitors.  Paris Bennett is an old soul inhabiting a young body, so in a way, she was older than Lisa, too.  Like her pal Kevin Covais–it’s back to school for Lisa, where a few more years of experience in every single way will make her a better singer.  In her twenties, she could turn out to be an amazing performer.

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Spoilers were all good tonight, except for Kellie’s…but that was a last minute rumor.  I’m not surprised it didn’t pan out.  Awesome job, kids.

The Top 10 Performance - Recap  video caps later, peeps

Songs of the 21st century

This is the modern world

Lisa Tucker - “Because of You” by Kelly Clarkson.  Kelly cleared this song for Idol.  But maybe for Lisa’s sake, she shouldn’t have.  Covering a popular song by Kelly Clarkson, who is easily the most beloved of all the Idol winners, was a huge risk for Lisa.  The performance began promisingly, and then Lisa’s pitch problems kicked in. Simon said that the song “was too big for your voice.” and yes, by the end, she was screaming the melody.  Watching Lisa beam at her parents out in the audience, I got the feeling she hasn’t experienced the kind of family angst found in the song’s lyrics.  She tried to covey some sort of meaning, but she just didn’t seem to be feeling it.  The judges were extremely harsh.  Lisa looked like she was going to cry, and I wonder if the scathing reviews won’t send a lot of pity votes her way this week.  She could be safe.  Bottom three, but safe.

Kellie Pickler - “Suds in a Bucket” by Sara Evans - Sure, this was a dopey little novelty song, but I think it suited Kellie’s modest vocal abilities and “cute” country style just fine.  I can’t understand why the judges are suddenly picking apart her vocals. Do I detect some de-pimping here?  Paula said she was “way better than that song choice..it didn’t show your range or personality”  Actually, I think the song was exactly in keeping with Kellie’s appeal.  Kellie IS a novelty and a gimmick.  The song was perfect.  Bonus:  The hour-long show was on such a tight schedule, there was no time for Kellie-shtick.  Thank the heavens for small favors.  And Kelly, when the judges criticize you, quit apologizing…

Ace Young -  ”Drops of Jupiter” by Train - This performance was better than last week.  But, I have to say, Ace is still not bringing it vocally.  His problems–weak, out of tune vocals (I hated the way he was warbling around on syllables like “hair” and “there” rather than actually singing them) could probably be mostly fixed in the studio, but are exposed on the big Idol stage.  However, Ace’s attractive vulnerability could be molded into radio-friendly pop, with a little help from Pro Tools. Randy, the judge who praised Ace for having “the best voice so far” in his Denver audition, didn’t like the vocal.  Simon said it was “karaoke”.   When Ace actually pointed to his scar when he sang the word “scar”, it made me giggle.  But no, I didn’t need to see it.  Ace could be in the bottom three again this week, but I can’t see him going yet. Oh, how the mighty have fallen…

Taylor Hicks - “Trouble” by Ray Lamontagne -  First, Taylor got a little live one-on-one with Ryan, where he introduced a ten-year old in the audience with gray hair (Yikes!) and was able to throw a little shout-out to his fangroup, the Soul Patrol.  Shout-outs rock!  There were no real spoilers for Taylor tonight, except a report that his song was ”less known…perfect to show his vocal range”.  I never heard of Taylor’s song choice and boy did it ever show off his voice!  WOW. This performance was easily one of the best of the night, and my personal favorite.  In a clear, soulful voice, Taylor showed us all that he indeed can sang. The judges:  Randy didn’t like the song because “it didn’t let you show off.”  Huh?  It showed off his vocals.  Taylor got criticized last week for picking a song that didn’t show off his vocals.  Paula said, “It was nice to see you just stand behind the mic and sing a song.”  PAULA, the voice of REASON.  What?  And then Simon said he liked the song and thought it was an excellent vocal.  YES!  No love for the outfit though–Simon inexplicably compared Taylor to Clay Aiken.  NO.  I thought the jacket and the hair were awesome.

George Huff, AI3 in the audience….

Mandisa - ”Wanna Praise You”  by Mary Mary -  I wasn’t feeling Mandisa tonight for a couple of reasons.  I like gospel music, but as she sang, I had this feeling she was preaching at me, hard.  It felt a little heavy-handed.  And, the song highlighted the problems Mandisa has singing in her lower range.  The thing is, she only sounds really good when she’s belting.  But tonight, she even sounded shrill on the high notes. She may really love this song, but it wasn’t a good showcase for her vocal abilities.  Paula stuck her foot in her mouth.  When she said “40 million people just joined the church of Mandisa,” Mandisa smiled and shook her head, NO, vigorously.  Uhh, Paula, pay attention to the lyrics, next time, will ya? You totally missed the point of the song. Simon, very dismissively, simply said, “I thought that was a bit indulgent, I just didn’t get that, not for me.”  Mandisa is a really gifted singer, but I don’t think the producers want her in this for the long haul.  Her star may be falling.

Chris Daughtry - “What If” by Creed - Just as I thought, “Chrisgate” was handled tonight–albeit briefly and awkwardly.  In a little sit-down with Ryan before his performance, Chris mentioned that his version of “Walk the Line” was Live’s version, and that Live was one of his favorite bands.  Chris looked extremely uncomfortable, but mercifully for him, the mention was brief and didn’t touch at all on the controversy itself.  I’m not sure what else Chris could have done at this point.  Flog himself with a wet noodle?  The judges acquitted themselves later by criticizing Chris’s performance–which was the same competent, well-executed performance he always gives–rather than laying on the usual pimp job.  Simon, unbelievably says, “Creed would not be seen dead on American Idol.”  Oh, I beg to differ, Simon. Scott Stapp?  I think he’d do Idol.  Live? Red Hot Chile Peppers? Seether? Those other bands whose songs Chris performed?  You know, the ones you heaped praise on?  Maybe not.  Then, incredibly, after all these weeks of Chris giving the exact same performance, Simon’s drumbeat of, “You know who you are” suddenly turned into, “You never change it up.”  Whaat?  In the immortal words of contestant Kimberly Locke, AI2–Simon, you suck.

Katharine McPhee -  “The Voice Within” by Christina Aguilera - Katharine certainly has her fans.  In fact, I’ve been saying all along that she’s a middle of the packer, but I’m revising that.  She’s got so much momentum right now, If she keeps going, she could end up in the Top 4 or 5.  However, I still think she’s a one-trick pony.  She’s incredible with the old-school tunes, but when she goes contemporary?  Not so much.  Tonight was a perfect example.  Katharine’s typical vocal weaknesses–melisma that just misses the notes and a stridency in her upper register–were on display tonight.  Plus, she was sharp through parts of the song.  And, like her take on Aretha’s “Think” in the semis, she lacked soul.  It was another white bread, cabaret treatment of an R&B song.  I still can’t imagine Katharine cutting it as a contemporary pop star.  Simon said, “I think it was the best tonight” without a lot of conviction. And then, he said unsmilingly, “it was almost as good as Christina.”  It seems Katharine is being groomed to advance, probably at the expense of Mandisa.

Bucky Covington -  “Real Good Man” by Tim McGraw -  Sweet, sweet Bucky. His days are numbered, but he’s hanging in there despite the fact that The Powers That Be have no love for him.  Thanks to a mighty fan base,  Bucky keeps plugging ahead.  Tonight, back in the country saddle, he looked extremely confident on stage, working some cool little dance moves into his performance.  This was a good song choice for him.  His raspy vocals sounded good, despite being drowned out by the band at times.  Paula and Randy liked his performance.  Simon, who doesn’t like Bucky at all, accused him of “winging it”.  Bucky will probably have to suffer through the Bottom 3 again this week, and might finally go home.  But, I wouldn’t be surprised if that fan base of his slides him through to another week.

Paris Bennett - “Work it Out” by Beyonce - As long as I didn’t have to look at Paris as she sang this, I thought it was great.  I agree with Simon, it was a bit “indulgent” (his favorite word tonight, for some reason).  The lyrics and the dirrrty dance moves were a bit beyond her 17 years (despite Paris saying in the clip that she gets to be like a teen–heh, not if you were my daughter, girl).  Having said that, I think her vocals on this tune were outstanding.  The incredibly unique tone that Paris brings when she’s on her game was all over her performance tonight.  I’m not really down with Beyonce, but I loved the way Paris worked this song vocally.  When she’s got the right song, Paris just blows it out of the water.  She’s continuing to sing like that confident girl we saw during the auditions.  If she keeps it up, she has a chance to make the Top 4 or 5.

Elliott Yamin - “I Don’t Wanna Be” by Gavin Degraw -  Ok, you wanna talk original?  I thought Elliott’s souled-up slightly hip-hop arrangement of this song was it.  I didn’t think of Bo Bice once as he performed it, even though Bo’s rendition was a highlight of last year’s competition for me.  Along with Taylor, I think Elliott brings a really special talent to the Top 12.  He’s got oodles of raw talent that hasn’t even been tapped yet.  So much potential here–he’s the kind of contestant who can blossom and grow as the competition heats up. I’m a little concerned that the producers are going to abandon Elliott for some of the “sexier” contestants like Chris and Katharine.  Giving him the pimp spot tonight gives me hope they might want him around for a bit.  The judges were all complimentary tonight–Elliott should be out of the bottom three for another week.  The hoodie/jacket combo was sweet.

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Elliott Spoiler Update:

Elliott Yamin is performing LAST tonight (according to his girlfriend on the official forum). Pimp spot for Elliott!  And, some are now speculating that he’ll actually be singing “I Don’t Wanna Be”, also by Gavin McGraw. (a friend at the OF dropped a hint when asked if she knew the song title, “i know, but I DON’T WANNA BE a spoiler”…

Bo Bice performed ”I Don’t Wanna Be” for the Top 6 last season, which had a similar theme: “Songs of the New Millenium.”

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Found at Idolonfox.com:

“After you vote, come back tomorrow night and see who’s going home and who continues in the competition. Plus, special guest stars Shakira and Wyclef Jean will be performing their latest single, “Hips Don’t Lie.” The results show starts at 9/8c!”

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Last night’s “Rita Cosby Show” on MSNBC

Simon Cowell and Ken Warwick appeared on “Rita Cosby Live & Direct” to promote their upcoming show,  “Americas got Talent.” It will feature Las Vegas-type acts including singers, musicians, jugglers etc.  Heh.  It sounds like “American Idol meets the Ed Sullivan Show”.  Bring on the plate spinners! The winner of the competition wins one million dollars.

After allowing Simon and Ken to promote the new show for a bit, Cosby quickly moved on to questions about American Idol:

About Votefortheworst.com and Dialidol.com, Simon said that with 40 million votes coming in a week, the websites can’t possibly influence the votes. 

Does scandal help the ratings?  Ken says, “Absolutely.”  And Simon, “We love it.”

About Paula Abdul, Simon said he whispered a couple of things in her ear, but NEVER expected her to say it on the air (no he was just hoping she would. Har.) Ken and Simon both love the fact that you never know what Paula is going to say next. 

Who will be the Top 3?  Simon is sticking by his previous prediction of “Kelly, Taylor and Chris,” but he has a “horrible feeling the public is going to vote for Taylor” (something tells me Taylor Hicks’s vote totals are very high right now, and Simon no likey).  As if we didn’t know, Simon prefers Chris Daughtry.  At this point, Ken jumped in to say that he “totally disagreed” but wouldn’t elaborate because he’s “not allowed to”.  He said there’s nothing worse than knowing from the outset who’s going to win, and cited AI3 and Fantasia’s seemingly inevitable win as an example (Errr, Simon didn’t help then by declaring her the winner from the outset).  Ken finally said that this season was, “the most open competition yet.”

On why Simon likes Kelly Pickler,  ”She makes me laugh, she’s a bit raw, she’s funny.”  When asked if she was faking it, both Simon and Ken were silent for a second. And then Simon piped up, ”None of them are faking it, but they’ve all become a bit media savvy from previous years…they’re playing…to the cameras.”

About the Clay-is-gay rumors, Simon looked at Ken, bust out laughing and said, ”Who cares.”

After the break, Cosby chatted with Kimberly Caldwell AI2, host of the TV Guide Channel’s “Idol Tonight” and Justin Guarini AI1. Not much to report here.  They both professed to like Simon.  Kim said he’s “honest”.  Justin thinks he’s “nice and witty.”  Justin believes Chris Daughtry will win AI5.  Kimberly babbled when asked the question, then finally, wouldn’t say.  After looking at a clip of herself on “Idol Tonight, “ Kimberly said, ”I look like I’m screaming”  Bulletin Kim: You are screaming.

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Song Spoilers

Ok.  It’s officially Monday.  I’m going to post what’s buzzing round the boards regarding song choices.

Elliott Yamin’s fans at the official boards at idolonfox.com have been busy playing a guessing game.  A family friend posted these hints regarding Elliott’s song this week:

1. Song is from 2005
2. Has a “little more rock edge” to it.
3. Song is by a solo artist
4. Song is on the “list of his fans”
5. Not Usher or Jason Mraz
6. Song is upbeat and uptempo

The “list of his fans” was found, and it was whittled down, using the above criteria:

“Chariot” by Gavin Degraw OR ”This is how a heart breaks” or “Lonely No More” by Rob Thomas

ANOTHER hint was posted–that the song was an “even” number on the “fan list”…

The final GUESS?…

“Chariot” by Gavin Degraw. 

On Idolonfox today, a friend of Taylor Hicks–a DJ and fellow Auburn Grad posted this:

“Hello again!! I just heard back and all I can say is that he is NOT going to perform “Drops of Jupiter” next week…..he has, however, made a choice that is less-known, but something that is perfect for him to show his vocal range, etc. That’s all I know right now and will post if I find out anything else.”

Hopefully, more will be revealed!

Mailbag/Odds and Ends

I’ve gotten several letters this week from folks telling me they enjoy the blog.  Thanks so much for the kind words.  Keeping the blog has been so much fun, but it means even more to hear from people who are actually reading it!  Total coolness.  Also, after I mentioned last week that I had readers from England and Brazil, I learned that I have readers in Asia, too.  Just…WOW!  

I’ve added more fan websites and  forums to the Top 12 list.  Check it out! 

Somebody wrote asking me for Lindsey Cardinale’s MySpace.  She was in the AI audience on Tuesday, and I mentioned that she had some great new songs out, but didn’t link them.  For anyone interested, here it is

Also, a correction: I said that Kevin Covais’s original MySpace had been taken down.  Not so.  Check it out.  Funny stuff.

Most of this weeks comments were about Song Spoilers and Chrisgate. Heh.  First, thanks to everyone who dropped me a line about any potential song spoilers.  I try to keep up with all the message boards, but sometimes it’s tough, especially during the workday.  Special Kudos to Alison for putting together the clues and figuring out Elliott’s song choice “Teach me Tonight” last week.

Ya’ll are still discussing Chrisgate.  It’ll be interesting to see if the show addresses this at all on Tuesday.  It’s become such a big deal, I think that they probably will.  One poster suggested that all this publicity may have been engineered by the producers.  You know what?  Nothing would surprise me.  The show seems to thrive on controversy. 

I did want to mention that contestants on AI generally don’t come up with their own song arrangements.  And contestants have covered cover arrangements in the past.  For instance, when Carrie Underwood sang Janice Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” last season, she used a country arrangement very close to a version by country/pop singer Faith Hill.

There would have been no controversy at all if the judges hadn’t lathered Chris with compliments about his “originality”, especially at the expense of his fellow contestants. 

Kellie Pickler’s “What’s a Ballsy” remark had quite a few comments too.  There were some questions about whether she said “What’s a Ballsy?” or “Am I Ballsy?”  I listened again, and I heard her say, “What’s a Ballsy?”.  Ryan thought she said that too.  He answered her, “I don’t have time to get into that.”  Afterward, Chris Daughtry leaned in to say something to her, but I could not make out what he said.  Either way, the consensus seems to be that the remark was transparently stupid.

Katharine’s song choice.  I mentioned yesterday that Katharine McPhee’s song choice, “Come Rain or Come Shine” was actually released in the 40’s and not the 50’s.  I asked for input from the resident ”Record Nerds.”  Ask, and ye shall receive!  Lollypop left this comment, which I’ll partially excerpt here:

“‘Come Rain or Come Shine’ is *such* a standard (a “standard” standard, if you will ;), that I didn’t even give it a second thought when she performed it. Many more versions were recorded in the 50s than in the late 40s. In the mid-to-late 50s, vocal jazz and pop LPs were released in great numbers…

So, as a record/jazz nerd, I found it completely fine that Kat covered that song. Ella Fitzgerald did an awesome version of it in the mid 50s on her Arlen songbook and many people hear that version in their heads when they think of ‘Come Rain or Come Shine.’”

Thanks for that explanation, Lollypop.  In fact, Katharine did mention Ella’s version in her video, as another reader pointed out.  Lollypop goes on to say,

“And, besides, this just points out the flaw in decade theme nights. The 50s were just as varied musically as “the 21st century” (snerk). The producers are just creatively lazy. Unless you wanted to make all the contestants since prototypical 50s tunes, like doo wop and rockabilly or the Howdy Dowdy theme song, then it’s just another giant loophole into which they can pretend to challenge the contestants while they simultaneously allow their favorites to stay firmly in their prepackaged comfort zones. “

I couldn’t have said it better!  Thank you.

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FYI:  The IDFer who posted that spoiler list that’s buzzing around the net right now, came back to Idol Forums to say that what she posted was only a list of suggestions–NOT SPOILERS.  So there you have it.

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Somebody just posted a complete spoiler list, with warnings about it’s authenticity, here in the comment section. thank you radioman.  This list was posted last night at Idol Forums without any explanation of where it came from.

A spoiler list that includes every contestant, especially one that leaks this early, is probably fake.  Even if the list was legit, song selections this early in the week are subject to change, and may not be relevant by showtime anyway.  Legit song spoilers come out in dribs and drabs, and usually from folks who are close to the contestants.

I’ll be keeping my eye out for spoilers, but won’t post any here until Monday.  In the meantime, keep emailing and/or posting those spoilers to me!  Fake or not. Thanks.

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