American Idol

Ramiele Malubay is eliminated

Video is HERE!:

• Group Sing: 9 to 5
• The Clark Brothers RULE!!!
• Ford Commercial: It’s Tricky
• Dolly Parton performs “Jesus and Gravity”
• Ramiele Malubay is Eliminated

thank you lawrence for the video clips…

Bottom Three:

• Ramiele Malubay
• Kristy Lee Cook
• Brooke 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.

Damn, Wednesday’s broadcast begins 2 minutes to 8 pm, which is going to totally mess up the way I normally get my show clips. Then, to screw it up even more, my cable box doesn’t change channels correctly, and I have to scramble to set it right, missing the beginning of my beloved Pointy Pose! Curses. Well, that threw me right off, so forgive me, this recap is coming a bit late…

Ryan Seacrest never mentions the vote totals for this week…

Speaking of the group song. These kids get it. They throw themselves completely into these routines knowing how silly they are–so fun to watch! Jason Castro galloping across the stage is just a hoot. Nobody is worried about how they look, they’re just having a blast up there. Love it. Dolly’s biggest hit, “9 to 5″ was reserved for the Pointy, and it’s all kinds of awesome!

Brooke White has the first solo. She describes “pouring myself a cup of ambition.” Would that be a cup of cocao Brooke? Fun fact. I heard Marie Osmond sing this song once, and she changed the word “cup” to “glass”. Hm. OMG, the choreography has me roaring! Michael Johns is in the middle and his little leg kicks are hilarious. He’s got Dolly Parton’s big skeery head on his shirt. Eep! Ramiele Malubay and David Cook do the bump. Many props to rawker David Cook for not acting like he’s above all the cheesiness. The kids gather round the judges to sing to them. Carly Smithson looks like she’s going to jump on Simon Cowell. It all ends on the catwalk in fine pointy-pose style.

Dolly Parton’s songs are her children. Isn’t that sweet? Almost as nice as a dog or a cat! She admits that she can spot the ones who’ll do well, but she goes all diplomatic and says they all did a nice job with her songs.

Ryan begins the eliminations. Michael Johns is first…and he’s sent to the Couches of Safety. Little David Archuleta is next. He says singing “Smokey Mountain Memories” was an emotional experience for him. He’s also safe. He’s sent to take a seat next to Michael. Carly Smithson is next. Ryan tells her she’s no stranger to the Bottom 3. She steels her self for bad news. But, nope. She’s safe. She hugs Ryan and runs over to the couches.

After the break, it’s lame-ass phone call time. Ryan once again pretends that the Idols who were waiting in the wings had to be assembled on the couches with their safe brethren, when in fact this bit (along with the performances) are taped ahead of time. When asked about home, Syesha Mercado says “American Idol is my family now!” Maybe not for long! David Cook would like to be organized (what other talent would he like to have?). His roommates, Michael Johns and Jason Castro are in total agreeance. A caller asks Randy Jackson, a bit sarcastsically, if there’s ANYBODY he hasn’t worked with. Randy says he wants to do a song with whoever wins American Idol this year. I guess Randy has worked with everybody else. Ryan gets bored, or something, and puts up the wrong questions on the big screen. Kristy Lee Cook and Carly Smithson think this is hilarious. Michael Johns and David Cook tell a caller who wants to know what they’d like to sing on tour, that they thought of dueting on “Islands in the Stream”. I would pay to see that. OMG the next caller is 52! Ryan declares that like he can barely believe it. Asshat. Ancient senior citizen thinks Simon apologizes too much. Simon likes that.

The Clark Brothers are next. I love these guys. Absolutely. They sing the gospel standard “This Little Light”. They perform it with grit and passion, and I love it. Ashley Clark the vocalist is fierce, FIERCE. He goes to church when he sings, and he gives me the shivers. His brothers Austin Clark (Dobro) and Adam Clark (mandolin) are incredible instrumentalists. I’m psyched that they finally get to do their stuff in front of a live audience. I can’t wait for the album in June.

Next, the kids play basketball in the Ford commercial, featuring the song “It’s Tricky” The Idols kick the asses of a bunch of street dudes. I believed it. Right.

Finally, more results. David Cook is next. He’s ok! The little trip to the emergency room the night before was blown out of proportion, he says. He’s got high blood pressure, but he’s fine. He’s also safe. “Sofa! Safety!” says Ryan. Ramiele Malubay takes center stage. Ramiele was excited about her performance last night, because she walked for the first time. She does a little walking-thingie with her fingers. She really is so cute. Cuteness does not save her this week. Ramiele is in the Bottom 3. She crinkles her nose and heads over to the Stools of Doom. Kristy Lee Cook is next. She hands Ryan a little piece of paper that says “Kristy’s Seat.”Kristy is correct. She’s in the Bottom 3. She smiles as she heads over to sit next to Ramiele. I have to give her props. Instead of crying and whining when she hits the B3, she has a sense of humor about it. And, she’s hit the B3 more times than I’ve counted.

Next is a video clip featuring former Idols Bucky Covington, Bo Bice and Phil Stacey. Bucky has two singles on the country charts, “Different World” and “It’s Good to Be Us.” He emphasizes that you don’t have to win the show to find success. Phil talks about preparing for the release of his new album and his family. Cute kids! Also cute–Bo’s son. He describes how tough it was coming off Idol. He got sick, took a year off, and then came back with an album of Southern rock. Despite all the difficulty, Bo says he’s a grateful AI alumni.

Now, time for more slicing and dicing. Syesha Mercado is next. Syesha says she didn’t want to be compared to Whitney. Uhm, that was inevitable. Lucky Syesha, “America has decided,” says Ryan, “That you are safe.” She seems to know her fate before Ryan gets the words out. She probably figured, when she left Jason and Brooke behind, that she was safe. So far, the last B3 seat has always been between the last two contestants called to the stage.

Jason Castro and Brooke White walk to center stage arm-in-arm. Brooke tells Ryan she enjoyed her performance last night. Then she pleads with Simon to apologize to the violin player Simon mocked during her critique. Simon gets all of his apologies out of the way at once. Jason liked his song too. And it appears the viewing audience did as well, because he’s safe. Ryan tells Brooke to stay put. Discombobulated as usual (anyone notice she can never find her seat during the results?). She heads over to the chairs but then doubles back to Ryan. Jason saunters over to the couches with a half-smile on his face.

Ramiele and Kristy join Brooke center stage. OMG, they look so funny together! Ramiele is in the middle underneath Kristy and Brooke’s entwined arms. They are roommates, too. Simon thinks the Bottom 3 is absolutely right. Then, he takes the opportunity to semi-apologize to Carly Smithson. He tells her that his criticism of her wardrobe was meant to be constructive, and that he really really likes her and thinks she’s very cute. Randy adds sarcastically, “…because the show is really about fashion, and not singing.”

After the break, Ramiel, Kristy and Brooke are back on the couches. Ok, not really. They never left. We’re back to the pre-taped portion here. It’s time for a little preview of Idol Gives Back. This week’s clip features two Ethiopian refugee sisters who find each other through one of the agencies IGB has funded. It’s pretty heart-wrenching as these things go. So give to IGB or your favorite charity, next week, peeps.

Mentor, Dolly Parton, takes the stage next to perform her single “Jesus and Gravity.” Wow, things are like, super extra Jeebusy tonight! Dolly, dressed in white and sequins, seems a little….uhm off. Randy would call it “pitchy”. Yeah. But that’s OK. She’s still pretty cool. This song should have a nice country/christian crossover success. She finishes the song, “Hallelujah, Simon, how are ya?” Heh. You know Simon loves him some Jesus. Not.

Jordin Sparks, in da house!

Dolly tells Ryan she’ll let Simon back into Dollywood, cause she’s got Jesus and they’ve got Simon. “That’s all you need, right?” She says to Ryan. “I got the short end of the stick.” replies Ryan. Dolly is relentlessly upbeat. By the end of her segment, Simon looks totally annoyed.

Back from break. Ramiele Malubay, Brooke White and Kristy Lee Cook are center stage. Brooke’s eyes are red from crying. She’s got her arms around Ramiele and Kristy Lee. Randy says he thinks Ramiele will be eliminated tonight. Simon says the eliminee won’t be Brooke. Ryan notes that Brooke is emotional. She says it’s the combination of being in the B3, hearing Dolly sing about Jesus and Gravity, and seeing the clip of the little girls in Africa. She explains that the clip put everything in perspective for her. When the lights dim, Ryan sends Brooke White straight to the couches. She’s safe. She hugs the girls and heads off.

Ramiele Malubay and Kristy Lee Cook are left center stage. Ryan says, “After the nationwide vote, Kristy, you are safe for another week.” Kristy Lee hugs Ramiele for a long time. Ramiele begins sobbing. Brooke is still crying over at the couches. Kristy Lee stays with Ramiele as her boot video starts. Back from the video, the other girls have joined her on stage. Everyone’s crying. Ryan tries to make Ramiele feel good. He tells her she has a reason to be proud. The crowd stands to give her an ovation. Her family looks so sad. Ramiele gets it together to sing out. The boys come out to join them. Big group hug, and we’re out.

Related Posts

More Recaps from Richmond and Washington

MJ’s Idol Pool Week 11 Update