First things first. Eliminated tonight:
Antonella Barba
Sabrina Sloan
Jared Cotter
Sundance Head
Tonight’s results: Not exactly what I expected.
What I did expect: Vote-splitting between the big voiced divas LaKisha Jones, Sabrina Sloan and Jordin Sparks with Sabrina getting the short end of the stick. Sabrina has a powerful voice, but was definitely outclassed both vocally and personality-wise by her strong competition. Her elimination was not a shock.
Also not a shock–sweet, winsome Sanjaya Malakar advancing to the Top 12. He’s got people. And those people aren’t voting for him because he’s a great singer. But that is nothing new in Idol land.
Jared Cotter’s elimination was also not a shock. He was really the last of the cannon fodder to be eliminated. While his vocals weren’t bad, his smarmy manner was really off-putting. Ryan asked Jared if he was surprised to be going home, and he said, completely seriously–YES. I think Jared may have been a little out of touch.
Antonella Barba said goodbye tonight–heading off to Maxim or Stuff, no doubt. I really believed she’d make the Top 12 and last at least a few more weeks. Maybe all publicity actually is NOT good publicity. It appears that her subpar performances, bad attitude and negative press finally caught up with her.
I didn’t think Sundance Head would be going so soon either. In fact, I thought he had the potential to be a Kellie Pickler–the type of contestant whose vocal skills are secondary to a personality that folks either love or hate. Not only did I think he’d make it to the Top 12, but I thought he was definitely a mid-packer. I’m still a little baffled by this one. Maybe after a good night’s sleep I’ll come up with something.
The big shocker: Mousy Haley Scarnato advances to the Top 12. I don’t think anybody saw that coming. Maybe, Simon’s harsh criticisms elicited the pity vote. Or just maybe, Haley represents a group of folks who aren’t interested in R&B or rock music. Haley may have had a pool of voters all to herself that was large enough to advance her past Sabrina who was more than likely splitting votes with several contestants.
Diana Ross will guest star on the show next week.
I’ll post a full re-cap tomorrow, including more on tonight’s cheesetastic group sing, the big mid-final charity special, and Carrie Underwood performing her new single “Wasted.”
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First, the group sing. This week’s horrifying 70’s hit, up for potential slaughter: “Stuck in the Middle With You.” The contestants try to melisma-up this moldy-oldie with typically hilarious results. The cheesy group sing–may it never stop.
Ryan tells us that 37 million votes were cast this week. Then a recap of the week’s scintillating performances (I usually fast-forward through that part).
It’s now time AMERICA–Your Top 12 revealed tonight. Ryan “gets right to it.” The lights are dimmed, and Ryan calls the contestants up in singles and in pairs. At the other end of the stage, are 12 shiny, shiny stools–one for each lucky finalist.
Lakisha Jones and Blake Lewis are first. Ryan says, “Here’s what I can tell you…One of you gets to work with Diana Ross next week, the other makes the Top 12.” Lakisha and Blake look at Ryan like he’s got three heads. Good work there, script-writers. Finally, Ryan spells it out, “You’ve both made it, take a seat!”
Chris Sligh is next. And we are not going to find out until after the break…that Chris can take a seat with Blake and Lakisha. He’s made it to the Top 12. As if we ever doubted.
Ryan calls Jordin Sparks to the stage. America has voted…and…they “are in love with her.” She advances to the Top 12.
Phil Stacey is next. He’s the first contestant called to the stage who isn’t a no-brainer. His performances have been inconsistent–Tuesday night’s being one of his worst. Ryan tells Phil that he’s moving on, and poor Phil looks like he’s going to pee his pants. He’s completely shocked–and relieved.
Jared Cotter takes the stage to learn his fate. And, no surprise–except to Jared who claims to be VERY surprised–he’s going home. Randy’s final thoughts? “Originality baby,” he says, “Find out what makes you different from all of them other ones…originality that’s what you need.” He takes the Idol stage one last time to sing-out with Stevie. The camera keeps cutting to Antonella, who is crying.
After the break, it’s time for another edition of “The American Idol Challenge” You, yes YOU, can win cash and prizes if you answer the following dumb question correctly: Which of these American Idols currently has the #1 record? Could it be Ace Young, Kevin Covais or Chris Daughtry. Ohhh! Ohhh! It’s Kevin right? No? I don’t win? Damn.
The two backup-singers, Melinda Doolittle and Brandon Rogers are called to the stage. Melinda is a shoe-in, but will the talented Brandon Rogers be given a second chance to show us what he’s got? YESssss! They BOTH move on to the Top 12. Yay.
Gina Glocksen and Chris Richardson are next. The pimping worked. They both advance to the Top 12.
Ryan tells us there are three place left, with 6 people left to potentially fill those spots. And now it’s time to introduce Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood, here tonight performing her latest single, “Wasted.” Carrie looks beautiful–please send Kellie Pickler the name of your stylist stat. Carrie sounds good, too.
After the break, Ryan calls Antonella Barba and Stephanie Edwards to the stage. Here comes the first big surprise of the evening. Both Stephanie and Antonella look scared to death. Antonella starts crying. When Ryan tells Antonella that she’ll be going home, Stephanie, a class act, refrains from celebrating. Ryan asks Antonella what memories she’ll have of the show when she looks back. She says, “So many…too many…I can’t even think about it right now…so many great ones but….” I expect her to say, “It was mostly pretty awful.” Antonella looks ready to go home.
She’s asked to sing one more time–off-key, shaky, proving once again that she was completely out of her league in this competition. Antonella was a trainwreck, but the TPTB put her in the competition, passing over more talented vocalists in the mean time. The kind of love/hate controversy Antonella inspired is exactly why she was advanced in the first place. Watching her suck-up the stage for one last time, I actually begin to feel sorry for her. Her character had played itself out. She’s no longer useful. On to the next controversy.
Afterward, Ryan wastes no time. He calls Haley Scarnato and Sabrina Sloan to the stage. While it seems unlikely that all 5 female R&B singers are going to advance to the Top 12, it seems even more unlikely that bland, unpimped Haley would be moving on to the finals….
Sabrina looks like she’s about to barf all over the stage. Haley stands calmly, awaiting her elimination. Ryan says, “…this is so hard…Haley…you have made it into the Top 12.” Haley bursts into tears. She turns to Sabrina for a hug. If looks could kill, Ryan, the judges, the contestants and the entire audience would have been mowed down by the intensity of Sabrina’s bitch face. Wow. She is angry. Haley takes a seat.
Now, for the judges shocked reactions. Randy says, “Sabrina should be in the Top 12, dawg. She definitely put it down… America got that one wrong, I think.” Sabrina sings out. In another season, she would have made the Top 12 and might have gone deep. Not this year.
After the break, Ryan announces that it’s American Idol’s 200th episode. And it’s time to announce the very special project. Now that Idol has become the “most popular show in the world,” the producers have decided that it’s time to give something back. You can read all about it here.
How about that, Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest took a trip to Africa, and we see clips of them visiting a poor African village. OMG, Simon REALLY DOES LIKE PUPPIES. There he is smiling, holding hands and playing with the chillrun. Randy and Paula will soon take a trip to Louisiana and Mississippi–places hard hit by poverty and natural disaster.
The culmination will be a huge Top 6 special where viewers can not only vote for their favorite contestants, but donate money to charity. There will be special guests. Quincy Jones will write a special song. Sacha Cohen, Gwen Stefani, Pink, Josh Groban, Michael Buble and Annie Lenox will appear.
So much excitement! Poor Sanjaya Malakar and Sundance Head, like children who’d been left alone as the rest of the family takes a fun vacation, had to sit and chill through the entire Idol-goes-to-Africa spiel. Now it’s time for some more eliminations! Sanjaya and Sundance take the stage. And, too bad, they have to wait even longer. Elimination…after the break.
As Sundance and Sanjaya await their fates, I’m thinking Sundance has surprisingly come to the end of his Idol journey. And I would be right. Ryan says, “Sundance, after a nationwide vote, you are not advanced to the Top 12.” Paula says, “I’m speechless, this is a singing competition, and Sundance you were one of our finest.” Well, actually, only his audition and last week’s “Mustang Sally” were any good. Everything else? Not so much. Simon says sarcastically, “The volume was turned down?” Poor Sanjaya looks completely freaked. America, look what you have wrought–this poor child lives on to the Top 12, only to be tortured some more. Ugh.
After Sundance’s sing-out, it’s time for the smell-ya-later videos, all to the tune of TPTB’s de-facto winner, (units baby, units, that’s what makes an AI winner…forget about that millions-of-people-who-voted-during-the-competition crap) Chris Daughtry’s, “Home”.
Welcome to YOUR Top 12, peeps.
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Speak for yourself! Sabrina’s elimination was a shock (probably more of a profound disappointment) to me. IMO, she actually outclassed both Jordin AND Lakisha. Lakisha has no stage presence, no star quality. As for Jordin, she’s just blah. There have been a million girls like her (Lisa Tucker anyone?) and it’s ridiculous that someone who was such a great, original performer was overlooked. Sorry, but the American public got this WAY wrong in my opinion.
DaniCalifornia–not sure what you mean by “older woman.” I’m 35, and NO WAY would I vote for Sanjaya. A 70 year old, maybe.
I also think that TPTB exercised their creative vote counting to get rid of Antonella and her baggage. As far as Haley goes, I am glad she is in the top 12 and bringing something different. She needs to go McPhee if she wants to stay in however.
Yeah, Jared was “swarmy” and so was Sabrina. I felt they both were trying too hard. I think that Stephanie needs to step it up in her appearance, and lose some of her attitude or else Sanjaya will beat her out next week. If Phil can’t learn from his couple of mistakes of starting in that low off-key voice then he will be the next to go.
Sunny D - completely agree with everything you said.
The fact that Phil has had to work so hard since his audition just to sing songs in tune means that he should hever have been in the top 24. He certainly isn’t Idol material and definitely should not be top 12.
I’m not much of a conspiracy theory person, but if any of that is true, I hope Haley wins the whole thing. Screw AI and everything they stand for.
Definitely not hot that should have went down. Best part of the night? Carrie Underwood. LOVE that girl!
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I don’t know where Tiff and Kim on Girls Talking Smack get their info but the had a list posted of the Top 16 showing who got the most down to who got the least votes. And Sanjaya was listed as #2 on the list of the guys. So he will probably be with us for a while. Lets hope that the guys’ voice coach will head him in the right direction when it comes to song choice.
i was not disappointed to see sabrina leave - actually i am not sure i would really be devastated at anyone leaving because this season lacks any real excitement. this is the first season i have watched without voting and without really caring to vote - said by someone who voted nonstop for george huff, bo bice, and taylor hicks. i thought sabrina’s voice was not particularly pleasant as i found her singing a bit strident most of the time. haley has a pleasant voice, and she at least adds some variety. given the similarities in vocal styling among four of the ladies in the top 12, i imagine stephanie is most at risk unless she has a particularly stand-out performance. because they are different from the other ladies, gina and haley should have their own following, and their longevity depends more on the size of their fanbases. and who is going to be voting for some of the men? with 12 contestants available to split votes among, i think anyone - other than lakisha, melinda, and blake - could go next week.
I thought about voting for Haley just to stick it to TPTB, but I voted for about 30 minutes for Stephanie instead, because at the time I looked she was at the bottom of Dialidol. Haley was higher.
I’m glad Antonella is gone. Her time was up, and I agree MJ - her character was played out. Now she can go accept that offer from Heff and give all the frat boys and dirty old men what they REALLY want.
This might be a separate thread. For all of those with knowledge of La Ross’s oeuvre, let’s speculate on what those puppies will sing that she also sang. Or what they SHOULD sing. Here are my ideas (from Supremes and solo stuff Ross recorded) — you’ll find all of it on iTunes and youtube:
Jordin Sparks: “Come See About Me”
Lakisha Jones: “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” or “Reach Out and Touch”
Melinda Doolittle: “Stop, in the Name of Love!” or “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”
Stephanie Johnson: “Love Hangover” or “Good Morning, Heartache” (if they let ‘em do stuff from “Lady Sings the Blues”
Gina Glockson: “Love Child”
Brandon Rogers: “You Can’t Hurry Love”
Chris Sligh: “Back in my Arms Again”
Sanjaya Malakar: “Someday We’ll Be Together”
Phil Stacey: “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”
the guys with Diana will be interesting. i just can’t see You Can’t Hurry Love helping Brandon in anyway though. I want him to make top 10 at least…next week might not be of help.
Do they vote off 1 from now on? Or is it still 2 next week?
Did Ryan actually say that the theme was Diana Ross or just that she would be the guest star and working with the kids? Could it be a theme like 70’s or something more generic than just Diana Ross songs
Personally, I can’t wait to see Matt Buckstein’s take on the Diana Ross/Motown theme!
Does anyone else here totally dig Dave White’s profane and irreverent IDOL recaps?? I LOVE it and this week some of it made me laugh out loud!!
I agree with everything MJ said about last night. Also FYI, Countdown on MSNBC just said that Antonella Barba announced she would stick around LA for two weeks to see what she gets “offered”. So far?
$500K from an adult DVD company.
$250K from ‘Girls Gone Wild’
How appropriate.
Shay –
My thought about “You Can’t Hurry Love” is just that Brandon could probably do it without screwing it up!
The ‘Music of Diana Ross” was what they said.
And look, as gaw-juss as many thought La Divina Diana was, you may have noticed that many of the tunes she originated don’t exactly require Olympian vocals. Or to put it more bluntly, she’s a one-octave wonder.
That’s what makes it a little tough…….I mean “Baby Love”? And “I Hear a Symphony”?? Yuck.
Now, she did also cover “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” “Close To You,” and other MOR stuff of her heyday. And the Supremes did cut a Liverpool album with lots of Beatles, and a Country & Western disc. (I’m not making this up)……..
so???
Cat, you are right! As a Reality Show, there are scripted moments throughout the season. Some are very obvious; others more deceiving. I also hated the pimping of Fantasia during Season 3. I don’t mind if they feature Lakisha’s little girl, but please don’t bring her up on the stage. That was the meaniest thing they did to Diana all season long! However, we will see this happen throughout the season.
If TPTB suspect power voting, they can throw out the votes. It is in the fine print at the end of the show. Also, in the past the fine print read that the final decision at any point may be left up to the JUDGES (not the producers). It is my belief that this is what they did in Season 2.
Colette, have you seen Diana Ross’ new album of LOVE SONGS? There are several male-led songs on there!
1. Remember
2. More Today Than Yesterday
3. I Want You
4. I Love You (That’s All That Really Matters)*
5. What About Love
6. The Look Of Love
7. Take My Breath Away
8. Lovely Day
9. Only You
10. To Be Loved
11. I Will
12. This Magic Moment
13. You Are So Beautiful
14. Always And Forever
15. Remember (Reprise)
Could Chris Sligh do “This Magic Moment” if it was allowed?
If Stephanie sang some “Lady Sings the Blues” cuts, she might break out of the pack. May I say I voted for her and hour and fifteen minutes, when I swore I wouldn’t vote more than a token few this season. That girl is underappreciated.
I can’t tell you how glad Iam that Ant is gone THANKGOD!!
Jared I’m not surprised at all.
Damn how did Hayley stay over Sabrina pitty votes I guess.
I think that Sundance had potenical .Sanjaya eh the guy seems like a sweetie but he can’t sing.
Grammie Kari:
thanks for the heads-up about her new album. (Anyone own it? Raise your hand…) There are some great standards there, question is whether they’ll allow them in as Diana Ross tunes. If so, “The Look of Love,” great Bachrach song and hard to sing, and “I Will” (Lennon-McCartney?) are good possibilities…..
Thank God Antonella’s finally gone. I disliked that girl from the moment she first came on the tv screen during her early auditions. UGH. Anyways, I jumped for joy on that one.
Are we EVER going to get rid of Sanjaya??? I can’t believe he sent Sundance home. I’m afraid good conestants might get knocked off the show just because Sanjaya (for some odd reason) has a large fanbase.
Sabrina definitely got robbed. . . Haley needs to go. . . Sundance didn’t live up to early promise so he deserved to go given Sanjaya’s cuteness factor.
That screencap of Sanjaya is heartbreaking.
sure he’s ‘cute’ but I always thought American Idol should be so much more than that. Cute shouldnt be able to be more important than talent.