Territorial Bloggings

Before getting to the Top 6 & Andrew Lloyd Webber, first a brief comment on last week’s elimination, seeing as how I didn’t actually see fit to write anything about it in a, you know, timely fashion. I’m not shocked that Kristy got sent home. A little disappointed, perhaps, but not shocked or surprised. In a voting bloc dynamics sense, it makes sense, even if it doesn’t make much sense in light of the fact that she was actually improving over the past few weeks. We’re now in the phase of the competition where what happens on the stage isn’t of paramount importance from one week to the next. In the aggregate, over several weeks, it can take its toll, but from one week to the next? Not so much. Keeping that in mind, let’s move along to what could be the oddest of our theme weeks, shall we?

First, a question: If Simon says someone is “too Broadway,” is that a good or a bad thing this week?

Second, David Duchovny’s in the house? But where’s Téa Leone?

Third, all those arm waving ditzes in the mosh pit? They’re sorority girls they bus in just for that purpose.

Wow, Ryan pinned Paula down. Paula didn’t like that one little bit, did she? She stammered & stuttered her way through that non-answer more than usual. Heh.

ALW says it’s all about words, words, words.

Ok, then. Let’s sing, sing, sing.

Syesha - One Rock and Roll Too Many - I’d like to see her fall prey to the ‘curse of the opening slot’ (it seems that more eliminations have come from the first performer slot than would be statistically warranted). That said, I think that Syesha is the ‘bad penny’ for this season - the one who inexplicably stays around too long (ala Nikki McKibbin, Josh Gracin, Jasmine Trias, etc…). Her acting ability seems to have served her well this week (and she does have a fundamentally good/solid voice), they did her hair up nice this week, and she surely wore that little red dress up nice! Randy, Paula & Simon were right - this is her element & her sexy, happy place.

Jason - Memory - He hadn’t seen any of the musicals? The hellz you say! I’ve never seen Cats, so I can’t compare Jason’s version to the original - that said, Jason’s was nicely understated, and I can’t imagine it not appealing to his core constituency. He looked sharp, his eyes were clear, his smile was bright, and the voice was pure. I liked it. Paula, as a member of the core demo, ‘gets’ him. Randy & Simon don’t. Pretty simple. I’m not sure how it’ll translate & play out in the voting bloc arena, but my gut inclination is that he’ll be safe this week.

Brooke - You Must Love Me - The connection that ALW had with Brooke was palpable. It was the kind of moment that you hope for when they announce who the celeb coaches will be, and it makes it worth enduring all the drek that we endured from people like Mimi Carey last week. ALW is a monster talent and a consummate professional, and Brooke is a truly talented cypher - genuine, caring, & vulnerable. She won’t win this contest, but if she can deliver moments like this one, she’s well worth having on this program.

Wow. She forgot the words. So she had the band start over. That took guts. Screw what Paula said. In the end, though, that was not a great performance. Heartfelt & vulnerable, but not great. Paula wanted to verbally bitch slap her, and came about as close to doing so as we will ever see from Ms. Abdul. Unless this generates a boatload of sympathy votes for her, and/or she picks up a lots of support from VoteForTheWorst.com as their new choice, I think Brooke’s time could be running out.

David A. - Think of Me - Much like Syesha, I think that David is in his element this week. Sweeping, emotional, powerful ballads. That’s Broadway. That’s showtunes. That’s David. He kept his eyes open, so he followed the advice he was given. He’s golden again this week. I still don’t want him to win, but he’s safe as a baby again this week. Just don’t make me listen to him talk, ok?

Carly - Jesus Christ Superstar - ALW once again proved his worth as a coach, getting her to switch to the proper song. and she knocked it out of the park. The Carly who the producers preordained as a pre-Hollywood pick to tout graced us with a visit tonight. And it was really nice to see her again - it’s been a while since we saw her sing Come Together. Plus, good or bad, right or wrong, she’s better served when she covers up the tatts…

David C. - Music of the Night - Good news: He gets the pimp slot. Not so good news: He gets the pimp slot during ALW week. He grew up doing musical theater, eh? Ok, sure. I shouldn’t have doubted him. Dude. Nailed. It. He proved that he can flat out sing. He is the best this competition has to offer this year. You can keep Archuleta. Cook is better. BETTER. It’s just that simple. That was an Idol Moment, people. Goose bumps & everything. Even if he, by some odd chance, doesn’t win the vote count, David Cook will be the real winner of AI:7 - he’ll be the one that will be remembered 5, 10, 15 years down the line.

The Top: David C.

The Safe: David A. & Syesha

The Bottom 3: Brooke, Carly, & Jason

Should Go Home: Brooke

Will Go Home: Brooke

Please note that on the bottom 3, I would prefer to have Syesha there instead of Carly, but I really think that the voting bloc breakdown will happen in such a way that Syesha will be safe. The one wildcard scenario is if Kristy’s fans continue to vote, but shift their votes en masse to Brooke (which would be my most logical guess, unless they somehow view either Jason or David C. as more appealing - that’s the thing about trying to predict…). If that happens, then that could drop Syesha into the bottom 3 and spell doom for, quite possibly, Jason. I don’t think it’ll break that way, though, and we’ll be seeing the last of fair Brooke tomorrow night.

-ghp