Idol final four

[JasonEvans]

Blake threw a stinker tonight. I sorta liked the beat-boxing, but not as much as usual and his second song was just strange. Still, as the only guy left in the competition and on the heels of his homerun last week, he could afford a stinker. He's safe, but needs to step it up next week, I think.

Melinda continues to underwhelm. She's good, but the judges are right when they says she sounds like a backup singer. There was just very little about her songs tonight that made me want to listen again. Heck, I FFWD the Tivo through the end of the first one. Yawn. It is possible she could be in a tiny bit of trouble. I won't be shocked if she is bottom 2.

Jordin did well. Her first performance was easily the best of anyone on the night. I did not love "A Woman in Love," but it was good enough. She had a bit of trouble on the high notes- but then again, so did everyone. Barry Gibb songs are just nearly impossible. I think Barry's style made it really hard on all the singers tonight. Still, Jordin goes through, probably easily.

Lakisha is toast. She had to have a big big performance and she didn't. This style of music does not suit her gospel voice in the first place. I agree with Simon that is sounds like she is screeching at times. She needed tonight to be a female-friendly R&B night. Instead, we got a falsetto guy singing disco night-- that's a really bad formula for Lakisha. I'll be shocked if she is not the one voted off this week.

-Jason "despite some craziness earlier this season, I thik we are goig to be down to the 3 best performers and the only 3 folks who ever seemed to have a shot at winning it next week" Evans

[JasonEvans]

DialIdol can be useful at a time like this--

It has Lakisha waaaay behind at the moment. Phones are still open for a bit and she could come back, but for now she appears to be really in trouble.

[g_olaf]

Tonight reminds me why I burned disco albums the first time around.

I thought Blake was lame last week... imagine how much is 'pitchiness' offended me tonight. He's might be OK as an extra in Police Academy 12, but thats about it. His second tune was a bit better... he was obviously going after a pet shop boys sound... not quite there though.

Have to disagree with your police work, but Melinda's first song, was actually the best vocal of the night. Sure it wasn't over the top, but it was it tune. I liked it better than her second.

[AtlBluRew]

It was a terrible night on Idol! I would actually have preferred a Sanjaya rendition of those songs! Those songs were fun in their day (although there's a reason that the one song from Blake wasn't a hit), but they were written for voices much different than any of those contestants.


P.S.: Why wasn't "Jive Talking" an obvious choice for Blake???

[JasonEvans]

It was a terrible night on Idol! I would actually have preferred a Sanjaya rendition of those songs! Those songs were fun in their day (although there's a reason that the one song from Blake wasn't a hit), but they were written for voices much different than any of those contestants.

I have a hard time blaming the contestants for last night. As I stated earlier, Barry Gibb's voice is so unique and different, having these singers do his stuff is just unfair.

Well, Idol's producers should have seen this coming. The bad show is their fault.

--Jason "I bet the total votes are waaay down from last week when there were like 65-70 million votes" Evans

[Duke4Ever32]

...why Idol even makes its contestants sing things which they would never sing in real life anyway?? I mean, come on, how ludicrous is it for LaKisha, Melinda, and Jordin to be trying to sing Bon Jovi and Bee Gee songs?!?! There's no way they would try those genres when making their own music, so why do it here?? Do we want LeBron James trying to catch fly balls or Peyton Manning trying to sink free throws?? Let these people sing the styles that they would naturally sing. The show would have a higher quality level each week and it would be interesting to see which song each person chose each week. Idol needs to ditch the "theme" weeks.

[AtlBluRew]

...why Idol even makes its contestants sing things which they would never sing in real life anyway?? I mean, come on, how ludicrous is it for LaKisha, Melinda, and Jordin to be trying to sing Bon Jovi and Bee Gee songs?!?! There's no way they would try those genres when making their own music, so why do it here?? Do we want LeBron James trying to catch fly balls or Peyton Manning trying to sink free throws?? Let these people sing the styles that they would naturally sing. The show would have a higher quality level each week and it would be interesting to see which song each person chose each week. Idol needs to ditch the "theme" weeks.

My guess is that the record studio that owns Idol also has all of these celebrity mentors under contract, and that this is a great way for them to push new recordings by those other artists. Yes, they had themes in prior seasons, before bringing on the mentors, but the themes were much broader, in my recollection. (Think, "any showtune" vs. "Barry Gibb songs.")

Or maybe it's just a way of breaking the contestants' spirits before they sign a recording deal so they'll record whatever pap the studio wants them to record -- like the horrible song from Bo Bice that I hear every day at the gym. Ughh.

[Olympic Fan]

Man, I can't contribute anything to this discussion this week. I tried to watch, but I just HATE the Barry Gibb music they had to sing.

Let me be clear ... I'm not a big Gwen Stefani fan and I was kind of lukewarm during Latin week and Country Music is not my favorite, but my distaste for that music is NOTHING like what I feel when I hear the Bee Gees -- to me, it's like fingers scratching on a backboard.

It's not general dislike of disco -- some Donna Summers stuff is good and I can tolerate the Commodores. It's the Bee Gees, not disco, that I hate.

I tried to watch last night, but 30 seconds into the first song, I switched to Olbermann. I occassionally tuned back, but every time I heard that horrible sound, I switched back to Countdown.

I pity the poor contestants. I agree that the "music" of the Gibbs didn't suit any of them ... I'm not sure it suits anybody other than a leftover Catholic Castrati.

Oh well, I will be interested to see who is cut tonight -- but I won't be able to criticize or agree with it. I'm not sure I can watch -- isn't Gibbs going toi perform? Can't take a chance to hearing that.

[CMS2478]

I can no longer comment on American Idol because I can't bear to watch it anymore.........it bores me to tears. So Jason's updates are the only reason I even know who is left.

[Windsor]

DVRs and Idol are a match made in heaven...I never watch all the chatter and drivel. I'll fast forward to the songs and if they suck...I move on. I do think Lakisha is done for this week. She really wasn't very good. I'll be happy with any of the other three winning the thing, although I have a preference for Blake.

[JasonEvans]

DVRs and Idol are a match made in heaven...I never watch all the chatter and drivel. I'll fast forward to the songs and if they suck...I move on. I do think Lakisha is done for this week. She really wasn't very good. I'll be happy with any of the other three winning the thing, although I have a preference for Blake.

Agreed-- I Tivo Idol with the express intent of watching the songs, the judges reax, and NOTHING ELSE!

Then, on results night I watch the results and none of the other fluff. I go through the entire results show in less than 5 minutes. Sweet!!

People who watch TV real-time are crazy

-Jason "I am a living, breathing ad for the dual-tuner Tivo" Evans

[Tommac]

Man, I can't contribute anything to this discussion this week. I tried to watch, but I just HATE the Barry Gibb music they had to sing.

Having lived through the disco era, I hated the Bee Gees in the late seventies also. I liked them pre-disco, and I started buying there nineties music. They have recorded some really good songs and written other songs that other artists have made hits with. The Bee Gees grew on me as I've grown older (early-mid fifties). I'm still not a fan of the Bee Gees' disco era music, but I can listen and appreciate how it reflects the mood and culture of the late seventies. Elvis Presley was someone else who grew on me when in my forties. I now appreciate his singing ability, though not necessarily the style he chose to perform.

[JasonEvans]

A quick comment about the elmination last night...

Of course it was Lakisha. She was clearly the least talented of the final 4. My comment has to do with the voting.

Did any of you notice that 2 weeks ago they said they had a record 70 million votes? Last week they said they had 65 million votes. Well, Ryan said last night that this week they had 45 million votes. He touted it like it was a good thing, but that is a HUGE dropoff in votes.

I think the voting was waaay down because lots of people did not want to vote for anyone after the cruddy Barry Gibb week (and I sorta like the Bee Gees). They made a horrible choice forcing everyone to immitate Barry and it hurt the show's vote totals.

Nothing else to add, except I fully expect Melinda to be voted out next week-- assuming Blake and Jordin do not throw out a truly horrible performance. If they are all good, then Melinda is gone.

-Jason "Blake and one of the 2 girls will be the final 2 unless Blake is just terrible again this week" Evans

[g_olaf]

Nothing else to add, except I fully expect Melinda to be voted out next week-- assuming Blake and Jordin do not throw out a truly horrible performance. If they are all good, then Melinda is gone.

Demonstrating that this is not a singing competition.

[JasonEvans]

Demonstrating that this is not a singing competition.

Never said it was. It is a performance competition.