Territorial Bloggings

Once more into the 80’s breach. Big shoulder pads. Bigger hair. Leg warmers. Madonna, Whitney, Janet, & Paula. I certainly hope that one of the girls nuts up takes on something from Ms. Abdul’s catalog. Straight up. Fer shure.

Continuing my self-indulgent theme from last night, some other 80’s milestones for me included: getting my driver’s license, the Tigers’ 35-5 start & wire-to-wire domination in 1984, seeing The Blues Brothers & Back to the Future, and (just so bigsis doesn’t feel slighted) the births of my three beautiful, blonde nieces in ‘81, ‘84, & ‘89 (including #’s 1 & 3 who are my Goddaughters as well, with #1 being like a little sister & #3 being almost like a daughter…).

Btw, a moment of silence for Jeff Healey, who just died this past Sunday at the age of 41. He was the writer & singer of the Territorial “Our Song” - Angel Eyes.

Ryan’s working hard right from the get-go, as evidenced by the oh-so-jauntily loosened collar & necktie. Simon declares no one to be safe, and I have to agree with him, insofar as none of girls have broken out in the same way that David Archuleta has. Last week’s eliminations also proved that talent isn’t as strong a sole criteria for America’s judging of the girls as it has been for the boys. Thus, I think that while certain girls (Carly, Syesha, Ramiele, & probably Brooke) actually are safe, they shouldn’t feel safe.

Asia’h Epperson - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) - A roller skating mishap as a movie extra? Ok, that counts as embarrassing. So does the outfit that she chose to wear - Asia’h is petite, but that outfit sure made her look hippy. Picking a Whitney song probably didn’t help her overall cause, either, although her hair & makeup sure looked good (and 80’s-ish). It wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t classify it as good, knamean? At least it was an improvement over last week’s illness-impaired performance. I really hope that she’s safe & makes it into the finals.

Kady Malloy - Who Wants To Live Forever - I actually like it that she was aware enough last week to think that she was the one who deserved to be going home. Most embarrassing moment was a high school audition gone wrong. Not unique, but it’s better than some we heard last night. A Queen song from the Highlander soundtrack? Great movie, but not a great choice for her. It was (to damn with faint praise) better than last week, but it doesn’t make me feel any better about her having stayed instead of Alaina. Like a robot? Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto. And the little “chatty” segments would be much better if Ryan would just understand the points…

Amanda Overmyer - I Hate Myself For Loving You - She looks great with the white bandana. She burned down a deck & pool? That’s actually more troubling than embarrassing, I think. Joan Jett may have been her best bet, but that’s still not enough for me to say I want her in the finals. Nope, I’d rather see her fronting a bar band, or maybe starring in a remake of Light of Day. Anyway, she’ll probably make it through, but if she (hopefully) doesn’t, at least she’ll have gone out looking & sounding more like herself. And that’s worth something.

Carly Smithson - I Drove All Night - Got stuck at the bar next door. Yup, that was embarrassing, especially as it involved getting helped by a drunk friend. Another fashion victim, with those pants. Fortunately, she still looked good, and sounded even better. This girl’s a pro, in the best sense of the word (like Melinda Doolittle was last year). I liked that rendition better than the Cyndi Lauper (or the Celine) version. It’s always a good sign when the Idol version is better/more memorable than the original. If any of the girls is safe, it’s Carly. And, if a girl can assault Mt. Archuleta, it’s Carly. And Moms is pretty darned cute, too.

Kristy Lee Cook - Faithfully - Pretended to be a dog as a 7-y/o. More odd than embarrassing. Actually, a pretty good song choice, as it’s a Journey song that doesn’t sound bad with a Country twang. She really muted her heretofore glamorous, blonde bombshell, good looks - more fresh-scrubbed than glam. She didn’t quite nail the money notes at the end, but still did a very good job with the song. Good enough, I think, to deservedly make it into the finals. I disagree with Simon, in that tonight (and for the purposes of getting into the finals) she was not forgettable. She’s not one of the top 3 or 4 girls, but she is better than two of the eight who sang tonight.

Ramiele Malubay - Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Seacrest made a short joke? Wow, pot, kettle… 5th Grade unrequited love? Aw, man I can relate to that (if Lori Christensen only knew the crush I had on her back in those days… well, she probably would’ve laughed at me…) - I won big in the long run, snagging the wife before she learned any better, but it was a long road to get to that point! Wow, what a great performance! This pint-sized package is wrapped around a HUGE voice. And she was rocking that 80’s purple skirt, to boot.

Brooke White - Love Is A Battlefield - Grabbed the wrong guy (i.e., not Dad) after Church. Eh. It’ll do. Taking on Pat Benetar is definitely a risk. Doing it as an acoustic number does help to mitigate the risk of being compared to Pat; however, it carries with it its own set of risks. That all said, I think she pulled it off, giving a nice, heartfelt vibe to the performance, that meshes quite nicely with her whole vibe/persona. Simon was spot-damn-on. Brooke won’t win, but she can definitely end up being an AI success story, ala Daughtry, Yamin, Aiken, & other non-winners.

Syesha Mercado - Saving All My Love For You - More unrequited love, this time of the 2nd Grade type. Awwwwww. Boy, Whitney bookended the show tonight. That wasn’t worthy of the pimp slot, not by a longshot. Syesha did ok, just ok. They had to keep the judge reactions short, but that’s ok too. Syesha certainly deserves to be in the finals, but she better get ready to turn it up a few notches once she gets there.

At Risk: Asia’h, Kady, Amanda, Kristy Lee

Should Go Home: Kady & Amanda

Will Go Home: Kady & Asia’h (I’m fully prepared for America to go stupid)

In the final third of the show, I actually liked the silliness of the judges. It’s so much more appealing than when they get all snitty & snarky mean with each other.

Tomorrow, we blessedly get the results and our Top 12 AI:7 Finalists.

Yay!

-ghp