AI:7 Phantom of the Idol 6
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
AI:7 - The Top 7 Sing Mariah
Yeah, yeah, Ryan. Shocking elimination. Every vote counts. Blah, blah, blah. Pimp the vote out, Ry-ry.
Paula’s looking especially glammed up tonight. Gee, I wonder why?
Tonight, we get the Top 7 singing, and being ‘coached’ by quite possibly the ‘diva-iest’ of all the divas, Mariah Carey. She has 5 octave range. She’s a legend. She’s sold millions upon millions of records. She’s gorgeous. She’s just your friend. Wearing spray-on black jeans. Just normal old Mimi from the block. Oh yeah, and she’s a certifiable whack-job. I can only imagine what fun this will be tonight…
David A. - When You Believe - Meeting Mariah was scary? Why? Because she’s a girl? Because she’s got those boobie thingies? Who let him wear leather pants? Why is his posture so bad? Can I write every sentence as a question? Did I like the falsetto? Did I like the lower register? Will David be safe? No, no, no, and yes.
Carly - Without You - She was emotional last week because she thought she was the one who was gone, that’s why. Nice dress. The first girl to perform, and, thus, the first to be suffer in comparison. And rest assured, all the girls will suffer in comparison to Mariah this week - that’s just a given, because none of them are as talented. That aside, Carly did a very nice job of delivering this performance, rebounding from a few sub-par performances. I wouldn’t eliminate her this week, by any stretch, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she finds herself in the bottom 3 again this week.
Syesha - Vanishing - The actress/mimic was able to learn directly from the source this week. I would hope that the voting blocs will shift & move in the aftermath of Michael’s elimination such that Carly is kept safe & Syesha is kept at risk. The judges, predictably, loved her this week. Hopefully, that will lull her fans into a sense of complacency, and they won’t feel the sense of urgency to get out the vote. She’s the one I want gone & banished from my TV.
Brooke - Heroes - She’s all sparkly & back in her comfort zone at the piano. Her genuineness hasn’t warn out its welcome with me like David A.’s has (the wife disagrees with me slightly on this…). Not a great performance, but a very, very good one. If things were based solely on performances, Brooke would be safe without question, I think. Factoring in voting bloc dynamics, I think she’s more than a little at risk of being in the bottom 3, but not really in much danger of getting sent home.
Kristy - Forever - Her confidence has been growing over the past few weeks. I’m not sure it’ll continue. She looks awfully good, in a Carrie Underwood-esqe way. Ok, I was wrong - she’s continued the got streak. They countryfied the arrangement, making it just twangy enough to let Kristy shine. And she did, perhaps even enough to stay out of the bottom 3 again this week. Nicely done.
David C. - Always Be My Baby - Another step outside the box? Uh-oh. Pretty & haunting? Ruh-roh, Raggy! Well, David Alt/Emo-Rocked the crap out of that pop hit didn’t he? I’m not a fan of the song, but I liked the performance a whole bunch. He’s back with a vengeance & ready for radio. Taking risks & making them pay off. Boo-yah!
Jason - I Wanna Cry - Rasta in the pimp slot, party people! Very understated. Very focused on his pure vocal tone. I don’t think it was an ‘Idol Moment’ performance, but it was a great follow-up to last week’s performance. I think his fans will like it a lot, and he’ll still be able to expand his voting bloc with it. Solid.
The Top: David C.
The Safe Middle: David A. & Jason
The At-Risk Middle: Kristy
The Bottom 3: Brooke, Carly, & Syesha
Should Go Home: Syesha
Will Go Home: Syesha
This is when is starts to get tougher to pick a bottom 3 and, oftentimes, to predict the contestant sent home. This week, I agree with Simon - the guys carried the night. The bottom 3 will be populated by 3 of the 4 girls. Who’ll get a pass? I don’t know, but I’d guess Kristy, who has a rather motivated voting bloc. I will not discount that I’m engaging in wishful thinking, because I really do want her gone, but I’ll stick with my predictions.
-ghp
AI:7 - Top 8 Results
Down & out down under.
Is the elimination of Michael Johns the shocking & outrageous elimination that we seem to get every season? “Why, oh, why?”, so many seem to be asking, did America get it so very wrong?
No, I don’t think this was the shocking elimination. The only truly “shocking” eliminations would’ve been either of the Davids. Anyone else would’ve been easily explainable.
“How could that be?” you ask, as Michael was such a favorite from so early in the audition phase.
Well, it’s pretty easy to explain, actually. As good as he was, overall, and as nice a guy as he was, in general, Michael had pretty long dry spell from Hollywood week through to about two weeks ago. He pretty much coasted by on talent/rep, looks, & other contestants who had more of the suck than he did. Once the field got weeded out & the competition got comparatively stronger, it was too little, too late for him to ratchet up his game. Folks like David C. had already firmly established their hold on the commonly held fanbase votes, so there was no real way for Michael to play catch up enough to stay in the competition.
It’s too bad, but that’s the phase of the competition that we’re in now. Now, it’s all about seeing how the voting bloc dynamics play out, especially after each elimination. Michael’s votes are most likely to get split between David C. & Carly, I would think, which doesn’t bode well at all for Syesha.
Aside from this lesson in voting bloc dynamics theory, the only interesting part of the results show for me was anticipating the outrage — outrage, I tells you! — at how Seacrest tormented poor Michael by hinting that there might not be an elimination, because there wasn’t one last year. Here’s the thing - while I agree that it was more than a bit tacky, I don’t think it was in any way, shape, or form Seacrest’s idea. He’s just saying what they tell him to say. So, I don’t blame him.
Next week, I think we’ll see things get back to a more normal/expected form re: the contestant eliminated.
-ghp
AI:7 - The Top 8 get inspired
Idol Gives Back week. Yipee…
Bill Ford’s in the house. I wonder just how they were ever able to get him on the hook…
Wow, not only were the performers inspired this week, as it looks like Paula’s boobs were inspired to make another appearance this week. (were they the chihuahuas that everyone kept mentioning?)
Let the guilt-a-thon begin with an 8-pack of ‘inspirational’ performances.
Hopefully they won’t be insipid performances.
Michael - Dream On - Aerosmith. Nice. And he actually sounds a tiny bit like Steven Tyler did way back in the day 30+ years ago before he became the caterwauling wall of sound that we all know & love. The falsetto? Yeah, dawg - he went for it & got it. That was great, both to show that Michael is still hot, and to show just how awesome good that Aerosmith was back in the day. Their early stuff. ROCKED. DAMN. HARD. But, Michael? Lose the ascot. Kthx.
Syesha - I Believe - A song by Fantasia? Fan-freakin-tasia? I am writing this before hearing the song, having paused the DVR so I can write this — SYESHA MUST BE ELIMINATED. THIS IS NON-NEGOTIABLE. I do not care how anyone else performs for the rest of the show. Syesha deserves to go, as she has proven that she has no ability at all to chose a song properly. And I don’t like Syesha’s attitude that much anymore, either.
Jason - Somewhere Over The Rainbow - A ukulele version, huh? Ok, it works for me. Risks being a bit kitschy, but I think I remember it from the movie 50 First Dates, and it was actually kinda sweet there. It didn’t have the emotional power of Kat McPhee’s tour-de-force performance in AI:5, but it didn’t really have to be all that, did it? I liked it a lot, and Castro’s fans will like it even more.
Kristy - Anyway - Staying with Country? Good choice. She’s looking very good tonight, and that never hurts, especially when it’s a contemporary good looking rather than an old-fashioned good looking. I think that Kristy has a career waiting for her in Nashville - not as a superstar, but definitely as a successful singer of some sort.
David C. - Innocent - Hrm. A song from a band that might not be known by the widest range of people. Potentially a risky choice, no matter how much he likes it personally. It started out a little rough for me, and it never really improved all that much. He was into the performance, emotionally, and that was all well and good, but I just didn’t get it tonight. This was his weakest performance to date, IMO. He’s due an off week, but he’d better not make a habit of it, because he’s still my favorite to win the whole shebang. ‘Pompous’ isn’t the best word to describe the performance - ’self-indulgent’ is.
Carly - Show Must Go On - Queen’s always a risky choice, and it usually kills the guys who take it on. Carly looked fierce tonight, and she sounded just as fierce. She took the risk and made it pay off. This girl has really got the goods, in terms of the vocal instrument with which God has blessed her. This wasn’t my favorite Queen song, but she did it fierce justice.
David A. - Angels - He had a hard time picking an inspirational song? But when doesn’t he sing an inspirational song that hits us over the head with a message? Sheesh! SMOKE MACHINES? Spare us the dramatics. Aw, I guess it was a technically good enough performance, but I still find him an ever more annoying presence on my TV, particularly when he’s not singing. It’s like we’re looking back at the teen pictures of a little old troll doll.
Brooke - You’ve Got A Friend - Well, it feels kinda strange writing this, but Brooke’s in the pimp slot. Well, I think this is a song that’s right in her 70’s/hippie/folkie chick wheelhouse. And Brooke didn’t disappoint, as she did a standout job with it. For this week, on tonight’s show, this was the song & performance you wanted in the pimp slot (with Jason’s being a close second, I think…).
The Top: Jason
The Safe Middle: Michael, David A., & David C.
The At-Risk Middle: Carly, Brooke, & Kristy
The Bottom 3: Syesha, Syesha, & Syesha
Should Go Home: Syesha
Will Go Home: Syesha
Maybe the most inspiring, hope-filled moment for me tonight? The very first teaser advert for SYTYCD? - now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!
As for AI, tonight was ok. Not the best we’ve seen, but not the worst, either. AI this week? Well, I’m not a huge fan. At least I don’t have to worry about watching it tomorrow night. It’ll be like an unexpected night off, before jumping back in with the results on Thursday.
Hopefully, the results show won’t be too difficult to sit through.
-ghp
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