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
AI:7 - Results
Once again, I’m late to the party on the results show happenings. This might be, let the reader understand, a recurring pattern…
Also once again, I have nothing of all that much substance to observe about the results show. It unfolded largely like I thought it would, insofar as the bottom 3 comprised Kristy & Ramiele (both of whom I predicted) along with Brooke (I said Syesha, but hinted that Brooke was vulnerable). Brooke was the logical one to send to safety first, and Ramiele was the logical one to send home.
Rarely have we seen a front-runner fall from grace so quickly. Even before the finals started, Ramiele seemed to be regressing. Danny’s elimination only seemed to lock her into a negative mindset & direction, as she never regained the the buzz or the momentum that she displayed earlier in the competition. If anything, she de-matured, relying on a baby-ish persona that she seemed to think was cute, but that grated on the last nerve of adults who tired of her pouty-lipped, hurt-little-girl looks that sprang up at the hint of any criticism or tough going. No, it was time for Ramiele to get off of the stage, and we’ll all be better off now that she’s gone.
This week, we have Idol Gives Back to look forward to. Whoopee! I can hardly wait for the self-congratulatory guilt-a-thon that they have in store for us over three, count ‘em, three days this week…
-ghp
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