ETAA: I’ll have some sort of recap up much later today.
ETA: I’m hearing that David Archuleta has won the coin toss filmed post-show tonight. The winner gets to choose whether to perform first or second in next week’s finale. He’s chosen to perform second–he’s got the pimp spot. Archie will have the last performance of finale night.
Syesha Mercado is eliminated tonight
David Archuleta and David Cook are the Final 2
Click links for Video…
thanks for the video links and captions, lawrence!
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Although the Final 3 all seem to be in this to win, they look tired. Very tired. And cranky, like those fun days of chest bumps and pointy poses are long gone. Now it’s just a slog, and it’s not very entertaining to watch. I wouldn’t be surprised to find the three of them scowling through their group number tonight.
But why even bother watching tonight? The die is cast. Thanks to some heavy heavy pimping of David Cook and some not so heavy pimping of David Archuletta, and the proverbial throwing under the bus of Syesha Mercado, the Davids will be advancing to the finals of American Idol.
Is it over yet? I ask, because I’m tempted to skip the rest. I want to remember these kids when they were at their best. Particularly David Cook, who seems to have his best moments behind him. Not that he sucks now–the bar was set high–I just wish the kids were peaking at this moment instead of 3 weeks ago.
And those stupid song choices..OMG. Just. STUPID…stupid…stupid.
Here we go.
Continue reading ‘Season 7 Final 3 Performance - Recap’
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Jason Castro Eliminated Tonight…
Your Final 3:
- David Archuleta
- David Cook
- Syesha Mercado
Click links for Video:
I Shot the Tambourine Man…
Here are the stats: There were 51 million votes last night. Were the fanbases energized to keep their fave from being Daughtried? Ryan Seacrest tells us that there were only 1 million votes separating the Top 3 vote getters. Last night he mentioned that three of the contestants were Top vote getters at one point in the Season. I have no doubt one of those contestants was Jason Castro. And not because of his sweet smile and pretty eyes. He took the top spot because he truly had the most memorable performance of the night. I’m thinking he was #1 the nights he sang “Hallelujah” and “Over the Rainbow”. There were other great performances. Let me tick them off: The easygoing, charming “Daydream” introduced us to Jason, “Traveling Through” a testament to Jason’s faith, was sung movingly and with much conviction and the beautifully rendered, Spanish inflected “I Don’t Want to Cry” and “Fragile”.
More Recap after the Jump…
Continue reading ‘Season 7 Top 4 Results - Recap’
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Click the link for Video!
Well, THAT didn’t turn out like I thought it would!
I had such hopes for this week’s theme–songs from the Rock and Roll Hall of fame. Finally, a theme broad enough that would allow the kids some breathing room to chose the perfect song. Maybe it’s like a kid in a candy store. Too many choices prove to be overwhelming. Whatever the case, it’s another disappointing week of ho-hum performances. At this stage of the game the kids should be stepping up their game. Unfortunately, the opposite seems to be happening–particularly in the case of Jason Castro who was unable to make a big comeback this week after 2 weeks of listless performances. It didn’t help that the judges shamelessly piled on at the end of his performances.
Jason had an uphill battle to begin with. Never mind the odds makers and the pundits who predicted that Syesha Mercado was in danger this week. As the last African American/Girl/Belter left in the competition, she didn’t need to do much to stick around. All three boys would have needed spectacular performances to knock her completely out of the game, and since that didn’t happen, she’s good to go. Really, Syesha, all that pandering to your base with the civil rights blather, the tears, the tight dresses–pretty much unnecessary. Better safe than sorry, I suppose.
And who would have thought David Archuleta would best David Cook on Rock night? There wasn’t a WOW performance from either contestant. but little Davie managed to stand out in a way Cookie didn’t this week. What a weird and disappointing night.
Continue reading ‘Season 7 Top 4 Performance - Recap’
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Brooke White is Eliminated Tonight
Tonight - Natasha Bedingfield performs
Safe:
- Jason Castro
- David Archuleta
- David Cook
Bottom 2 - Although Ryan never calls it the bottom 2 and everyone is sitting together on the couches. No Stools of Doom!
- Syesha Mercado
- Brooke White
Very strange business tonight. Jason Castro, David Archuleta and David Cook are declared safe. Syeshsa Mercado and Brooke White are called out to center stage, but Ryan never refers to them as the Bottom 2.
Click the links for Video!
- Tonight’s group song is so bad… Actually, it is just really bad. Nice pointy pose at the end, however.
- Constantine Maroulis and Gina Glocksen are in the audience. Constantine stares into the camera. Ace Young is sitting nearby, but Ryan breezes right past him. Carrie Underwood is featured on this week’s Idol Gives Back postage stamp.
- Paula Abdul’s gaffe last night is touched upon briefly. Ryan Seacrest said that he read what people were saying about her online this morning and that it was all untrue. He said that she’s part of the family and they all love her. Jason Castro was never mentioned.
- However, Jason Castro is quickly declared safe first. I suppose that is meant to be an “apology” of sorts. David Archuleta is declared safe next.
- David Cook is declared safe. Brooke White and Syesha Mercado are left behind.
- Natasha Bedingfield — Zzzzzz. She heads to the couches to meet David Archuleta. He has said that he’d really like to duet with her.
- Ford Commercial, “Catch the Wind” Donovan!
- Neil Diamond sang a gorgeous song called “Pretty Amazing Grace” from his new album.
- Brooke White is eliminated, standing on stage with Syesha Mercado. She performs her singout, choking through tears. I’ve never seen a contestant that broken up while performing a sing out…
ETA: A big shout-out and thanks to DJ Slim for introducing me to my new web host. Thanks to DJ, y’all can get into the site tonight…
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Bring those perky contestants in! Ha ha!
Click link for video!
Paula is wasted! - Paula becomes very confused in this clip…By the way, I had no idea Paula Abdul was psychic! Slamming Jason Castro’s 2nd performance before he even had a chance to f*cking sing it! That woman is brilliant! Feh. What a disaster.
I hope everyone enjoyed tonight’s edition of “Speed Idol”. I didn’t exactly…
Poor Neil Diamond. He got left in the dust amidst the speed, confusion and controversy that characterized Tuesday’s Top 5 performance show. Packing 10 performances into 1 hour had each one whizzing by so fast, they barely registered. The performances ranged from horrifying to just pretty good. Not a stellar night at CBS studios. And Paula. OMG Paula. Snap out of it. Pay attention. Do your job, and I hope you apologized to Jason Castro for your major f*ck up. Also, nice attempt at throwing Syesha Mercardo under the bus Simon. You suck.
Here’s how it went down: The first performance featured video clips of Neil Diamond working with the contestants. After the second performance, the judges critiqued the first and second performance. At least that’s how it was supposed to go down. Instead, after the first round, the kids were hurriedly assembled back on stage for an impromptu judges critique. That’s when it all went horribly, horribly, wrong…
More after the Jump…
Continue reading ‘Season 7 Top 5 Performance - Recap’
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Carly Smithson is eliminated tonight…
Bottom 2
- Syesha Mercado
- Carly Smithson
Videos
Stay Tuned: Next week Brooke White’s head explodes on the Idol stage! Seriously, I wish her fans would take Brooke’s mental health into consideration and stop voting for her. The poor girl appears to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Her major meltdown on Tuesday night was not a pretty thing to watch. But somehow, her vulnerability is appealing to the voters. Perhaps more appealing than Carly Smithson’s intense need to please and succeed.
Recap and Photos After the Jump…
Continue reading ‘Season 7 Top 6 Results - Recap’
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Click the links for video…
Although he came across as sort of an asshat in recent interviews, I have to say Andrew Lloyd Webber proved to be a very helpful mentor. A little honesty doesn’t hurt, especially when it helps a contestant’s performance. I also give him kudos for sitting in the audience of the CBS studios while his students performed his songs. That’s called follow-through people.
The Idol stage is filled with a huge orchestra to help the kids do the Broadway thing. This is a tough theme. Performing Andrew Lloyd Webber requires not only vocal skill, but the ability to tell a story through song–a challenge for any singer. Some were up to the task, others were not. The folkies of the group–Jason Castro and Brooke White–suffered the most.
Continue reading ‘Season 7 Top 6 Performance - Recap’
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Kristy Lee Cook is eliminated
Elliott Yamin sings “Free”. And Mariah Carey sings “Bye Bye”.
The groups are beginning!
On one side of the stage:
- Jason Castro
- Carly Smithson
- Syesha Mercado
On the other side of the stage:
- David Cook
- Kristy Lee Cook
- Brooke White
ETA: Sorry, the database crashed, and I was distracted. This is what happened tonight…
Ryan brings David Archuleta out to center stage and declares him safe. He asks David Cook and Syesha Mercado to trade places, creating an obvious Bottom 3 and Top 3–Syesha Mercado, Kristy Lee Cook and Brooke White on one side, Jason Castro Carly Smithson and David Cook on the other.
He asks David to choose the Top 3. David sits in the middle of the stage instead of choosing. Ryan tries to scoot him over to the side where Jason Castro, Carly Smithson and David Cook are standing, but David doesn’t budge. The Top 3 join him center stage. David Cook sits down on the floor next to him. Ryan declares all four safe. Jason Castro grins and sits down on the floor too. Carly Smithson is so giddy, she jumps up and down. Ryan sends them over to the couches.
Ryan asks Kristy Lee Cook, Brooke White and Syesha Mercado to take center stage. After the break, Syesha Mercado is sent back to the couches. Brooke White is declared safe. Kristy Lee Cook is eliminated.
VIDEO:
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Mariah Carey mentors
Click the link for VIDEO!
Thanks Lawrence for the video…
Who would’ve thought the boys could hold their own performing in Mariah Carey’s world? Not only did they hold their own, but the best performance of the night went to a singer who should have had a train wreck–David Cook. By now, however, it’s pretty clear that David is in his element when faced with a musical challenge. He’s consistently been able to find a way to put his own twist on songs that are outside of his comfort zone. So, maybe it’s not such a big surprise after all. David Archuleta missed the memo that said Inspiration Week was last week. Actually, every week has been puppies-and-rainbows-and-I-do-believe-I-can-fly week for David. But as Randy would say, those big, meaningful power ballads are right in David’s “wheelhouse”. I don’t expect him to be stepping out of that box any time soon.
The girls had a tougher time. Unlike Jason Castro, who basically eschewed the glory note and did his own thing, that other folkie, Brooke White, tried to stretch the boundaries of her range with mixed results. Syesha Mercado would have been better if she hadn’t tried to stretch her range at the end of her number, but then she probably would have been called out as boring. Carly Smithson, trying too hard to please Simon, didn’t please him at all. Surprisingly, the glory note queen of the girls this week was Kristy Lee Cook who was a bit shaky at the start of the performance, but then pulled it out at the end. She’s not going anywhere, peeps.
After the jump, my contestant-by-contestant recap.
Continue reading ‘Season 7 Top 7 Performance - Recap’
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Michael Johns is eliminated.
Video:
The IGB lines remain open during the show. Donations raised so far: Over 60 million dollars. Six of the IGB iTunes videos are in the Top 10. The opener, “Don’t Stop the Music” is at #1.
There were more than 31 million votes Tuesday night.
Mandisa in the house!
Bottom 3 (these were the last 3 standing):
Syesha Mercado- Michael Johns
Carly Smithson
WTF? !!!??111??!
Forget iTunes, forget TIVO (I can’t believe so many news outlets picked up that shiz) Nigel Lythgoe told us exactly who was going home yesterday morning in an interview on Sirius satellite radio. I even posted a paraphrase of his quote on the blog. But did I listen? No I did not. I went straight into denial mode. I couldn’t imagine the rest of this competition without Michael Johns.
More after the Jump…
Continue reading ‘Season 7 Top 8 Results - Recap’
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Check out my video recap right here.
Give to Idol Gives Back at americanidol.com - I did! Also, iTunes performances will be available with all proceeds going to IGB.
This year’s extravaganza was much better organized than last year’s attempt to shmoosh the fundraiser and results show together. Although, I wonder if the ratings suffered (ETA: They did. Roughly 17.60 million viewers and a 6.7 rating/18 share among adults 18-49) without that “carrot” producer Nigel Lythgoe found so distasteful. The night cut between performances recorded at the Kodak theater Sunday, and the Idols and Ryan live at the CBS studios. The Top 12 were there maning phones, although David Hernandez and Amanda Overmyer were so far in the back you could barely see them. Yes, call in now and you can talk to an Idol! And maybe even Ryan Seacrest, who would grab the phone to chat with callers. Was there really a need to pretend that the entire telethon was live? There’s no way Ryan and the kids could be in two places at once, so what’s the point?
More After the Jump…
Continue reading ‘Idol Gives Back - Mini Recap’
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Video!
My recap from last night is finally up. Argh. I dread recapping tonight’s marathon. 2 1/2 hours! But for once, I’m not going to complain about the extra-long Idol tonight. It’s all for a good cause, y’all. I’m even going to put aside my cynicism for one night. Sure, the motives of TPTB are never entirely pure, but who cares? The end result is a good one, so I’m not going to sweat it.
Besides, according to this recent New York Times article, last year’s 75+ million dollars appears to have been well managed and went to many needy charities. It’s all good.
One of the organizations involved with Idol Gives Back is the One campaign to end global hunger. They’ll be asking for support tonight. If you’d like to sign up, I made it easy. Just use the handy dandy banner on your left.
Spoilers for tonight. Pictures from the Kodak Sunday night.
Phone Number to donate: 1-877-IDOLAID or donate at americanidol.com
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Click Song Link for Video!
Thanks, Lawrence, for the video…
I suppose this is going to be a tradition in Idol-land. Gearing up for the big Idol Gives Back telecast will have the contestants singing songs of “Inspiration”. It became clear to me last night why this is such a bad idea. Nearly every Idol chose their song for a sentimental reason, rather than considering the bigger questions of strategy and suitability. The wind-up was a night of mostly uninspired performances. The best of night was Jason Castro who brought it, just when he needed it. His rendition of the lovely “Over the Rainbow” was the performance of the evening.
Continue reading ‘Season 7 Top 8 Performance Recap’
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Ramiele Malubay is eliminated
Video is HERE!:
thank you lawrence for the video clips…
Bottom Three:
- Ramiele Malubay
Kristy Lee CookBrooke White - sent back to the couches first
Ramiele Malubay couldn’t be saved by her fanbase this week. She started off promisingly enough with an awesome performance in the semi’s of “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” Top 24 week, but her inexperience did her in on the big stage. Kristy Lee Cook, whose many trips to the B3 is proving her to be tough as nails, lives to sing another week. Brooke White makes her first trip to the stools, and it’s a rough one for her.
Continue reading ‘Season 7 Top 9 Results Recap’
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Click Song Link for Performance Video!
