Idol last night

[Olympic Fan]

No update this week?

Pretty boring stuff, especially with such a successful song-writer as Dolly Parton as the theme.

A lot of good, but not great performances. I thought Ramielle's elimination was a no-brainer, although I would have killed to get rid of Castro.

Kristy Cook, by far the worst singer in the bottom 12, continues to be very lucky with song choices and theme weeks. She's barely passable on the country stuff ... if they do a Queen week again or maybe Brian Wilson week, she's toast.

I continued to be baffled by the adoration for David Cook. Just blah. But he's not nearly as annoying to me as Jason Castro ... or David A (I'd love to see both of them booted soon ... Kristy is a worse singer, but at least she's easy on the eyes).

Anyway, eight left and I'd guess than Kristy is the next to go ... unless they do a Tony Keith week and she gets to sing "Red, White and Blue"

[Dukiedevil]

I like Cook and think he is probably a lock for the final 3. Surprised you think differently. David A. is talented but can really only sing a certain type of song. Kind of a Josh Grobin kind of guy...

The next 3 to go in no particular order will be Kristy, Syesha and Castro. I think Castro is talented, but like David A. is limited to a certain type of music (see Johnson, Jack).

I agree it was a pretty boring week overall. I enjoyed Cook, Michael Johns and Carly's performances, but that was about it. Those three should be the final 3 (possibly swapping Brooke for Carly), but I worry about Cook and Johns being similar enough to steal votes from each other...

Here's to hoping the "themes" get more interesting soon...

[Bostondevil]

I didn't predict a bootee this week because I didn't have good feel for it. Honestly, if I'd forced myself to choose, I would have predicted Syesha because Whitney is usually the third rail of American Idol but I would have been wrong, so 3 for 4 on predicting who goes home. Ramielle was on my possible list. I knew if she made it through this week she'd be in it for awhile because it would mean she had A LOT of hardcore fans, but apparently not. She has a very good voice but didn't find herself as a performer, IMHO.

I still have no idea who is going to win. I will say that of the remaining contestants, Kristy has no shot. The rest of them, we will have to see, although I think Syesha has probably the weakest chance to win. She could still pull out a turn around performance though (like Kimberly Locke's New York State of Mind in Season 2). We'll see. Any of them left could make Top 4 and any of them could leave next week, yes, even David A. if he forgets his words again.

[SoCalDukeFan]

This year is much better than last.

David A has a certain following. Young teenage girls I guess. He will probably make the final 3.

I would like to see Castro go asap. He just annoys me.

I love the way Kristy is playing the game. But she should go soon also.

For me, David A follows. But I doubt if he will.

I actually like Brooke, Carly, David Cook, Michael and Syesha just fine.

SoCal

[Clipsfan]

I love the way Kristy is playing the game. But she should go soon also.

I think that her song choices have been good/she's been lucky with the themes, but I thought that her stunt with the piece of paper with her name will hurt her. I found it annoying and would guess that many others did as well. In contrast, I am not a fan of Brook but thought that her comments at the end will help her out a ton.

[ArnieMc]

Is there any difference between tenth and second place, other than a few more weeks of exposure? The top ten get to go on tour, so it must suck to be eleventh, but are there any more advantages to finishing higher?

[Lavabe]

Is there any difference between tenth and second place, other than a few more weeks of exposure? The top ten get to go on tour, so it must suck to be eleventh, but are there any more advantages to finishing higher?

That added exposure has given a number of people added opportunities and money. See Clay Aiken, Daughtry, Kimberley Locke, Katherine McPhee, etc...

Then again, Season One seemed to have a bunch of folks who just haven't done much.

Cheers,
Lavabe

[JasonEvans]

Sorry I did not get a chance to recap. If I had, I would totally have picked Rammy to go. It was not even close. Kristy has been at least a little bit interesting to listen to the past couple weeks while Ramille is a total mess.

As an aside, how tall is Ramielle? She can't even be 5-feet tall, right? When Kristie wass hugging her at the end, it appeared Ramille barely made it up to Kristie's --uhhh-- chest area. I was afraid Rammy might get smothered to death

I thought Michael Johns was the performer who really stepped up this week. I enjoyed his performance a great deal, though part of that was me digging on the blues guitar guy in the background. Anyway, I am starting to think that there is just no way on Earth that MJ, DCook, and DArch are not 3 of the final 4. To me, those 3 are standing out ahead of the rest pretty convincingly and have done so now for several weeks. All the rest have been in the bottom 3 or certainly in danger of being in the bottom 3 at some point. Not so for the top 3 guys.

If I had to guess, I would say that Brooke will join them in the final 4, but it could be Carly or even Syesha (who has impressed me the past couple weeks). It will not be Jason Castro. He's just too limited, I think.

Next week will likely see Kristie or Castro go. It does not really matter which. I suppose I could see Castro hanging on a little longer, especially if Syesha or Carly have a bad week. I bet you will start to see the judges be nicer to Brooke because I have a sense they like her and they know (especially Simon) that their comments affect the vote.

Pay careful attention to who leads off next week. It is bad to be in early position on the show as voters forget about you a bit by the time they vote. One reason I think Brooke made the bottom three this past week was because she was the leadoff singer.

It is still waaay too early to project a winner. As many have noticed, the talent level is high this season and I bet a lot of these folks end up with successful recording careers. If, as I suspect, the final 3 are DCook, DArch, and MJ then I think one of MJ or DCook will go out and whoever sticks around will oust DArch in the finals. But, that is still many songs away.

--Jason "next week's theme is key-- will they finally make Kristie sing a non-country song?" Evans

[edensquad]

David Archuleta is way too "Up With People" for me; more and more, he seems like some Stepford kid, standing there with that creepy smile frozen on his face. Having said that, he seems to have a huge teeny following, so he'll prolly make the final 3 or 4.

Brooke also seems a little "sunshiney" to me; most successful pop/rock artists have a hint of danger... a dark side... some angst or sumthin.' Maybe she and David A. ought to make Contemporary Christian records...or country. They just seem too "squeaky clean" to be pop stars.

For what it's worth, I just got back from a writing trip with a prominent Nashville producer, who thinks David Cook, Michael Johns and Carly Smithson are the most likely ones to make hit records post-Idol. It's always interesting to me to get different takes on something so subjective as talent.