American Idol
On Our TV

As promised, this is the first of last week’s performances.

Tonight started off with Ryan sporting a fauxhawk. That was a funny moment. Then we had to obligatory recap of last night’s performances. After the first break, we saw the Ford commercial— a western themed commercial with the Idols singing “I Fought the Law”. Then, it was time to reveal the bottom three.

Each contestant was asked to stand individually. The first to stand was Blake— safe. LaKisha— safe. Phil— bottom three. Ryan moved on to Melinda, Chris Richardson and Sanjaya— all safe. Next was Haley— bottom three. Jordin was declared safe, leaving Gina and Chris Sligh to wait until after the break and Gwen Stefani’s performance of “Sweet Escape” (with Akon) to find out which of them was in the bottom three. When all was said and done, Chris Sligh joined Phil and Haley in the middle of the stage.

Phil was once again allowed to sit down while the other two waited to find out their fate. Tonight we said goodbye to Chris Sligh. Goodbye, Chris. The ‘Fro Patrol will miss ya.

After looking at last night’s poll results, I have just one thing to say: Vote for the Worst people— quit voting in my poll!! It’s bad enough you make us continue to watch bad performances, but I at least like to see reality reflected in my polls. And you know what I mean— look at those votes and tell me which one looks wrong.

Who would you most want to see perform an encore of tonight’s performance?
LaKisha Jones: 11% (11)
Chris Sligh: 1% (1)
Gina Glocksen: 21% (20)
Sanjaya Malakar: 15% (14)
Haley Scarnato: 1% (1)
Phil Stacey: 8% (8)
Melinda Doolittle: 18% (17)
Blake Lewis: 8% (8)
Jordin Sparks: 10% (10)
Chris Richardson: 6% (6)

Total Votes : 96

Tonight’s guest was Gwen Stefani, and the theme was songs that inspired her band No Doubt. I thought it was an interesting night. It was filled with primarily pop music. I didn’t think Gwen Stefani offered a ton of insight or really helpful information (or at least we didn’t see that), but she seemed nice enough.

LaKisha Jones started off the night singing Donna Summers’ “Last Dance”. Even though Gwen Stefani said she should be asking LaKisha for advice, something about tonight’s performance seemed off to me— maybe it was the vibrato, perhaps it was that she just didn’t seem that happy. I don’t know, but it just wasn’t my favorite LaKisha performance, even though it was still solid. Randy thought it was hot. Paula said LaKisha did an excellent job. Simon said she seemed thirty years younger this week.

I like Chris Sligh, but he seems to be going a bit downhill. Tonight he sang The Police’s “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”. Note to performers: if you’re thinking of singing anything by Sting, think again. His music (solo or with The Police) is really difficult. Unfortunately, Chris got lost in the beat of this song. Gwen warned that this could be a problem, and it was. Randy and Paula thought he picked a good song, but that he was off tempo. Simon thought the entire thing was a mess. The best thing about Chris’ appearance tonight was his answer to the fan question. He was asked if they got any downtime and what he liked to do with it? He answered that he likes knitting, crocheting and playing bongos in his underwear. He then added that seriously he just tries to get some sleep, so that he doesn’t get sick.

I thought the most improved performer of the night award should go to Gina Glocksen. Her performance of The Pretender’s “I’ll Stand By You” was really excellent. This was probably my favorite performance of hers. She picked a song that suited her vocally and personality-wise. Randy agreed it was one of her best performances. Paula said she improves each week. Simon said, “It wasn’t one of your best performances”, drawing boos, but then finished, “It was your BEST performance”.

Sanjaya Malakar might do better picking songs for himself if he just drew them out of a hat. Tonight he sang No Doubt’s “Bathwater”, while sporting a fauxhawk. Tonight I think I’m going to have to take my cue for Thumper in Bambi. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing. The judges didn’t have much to say, either. Simon pretty much summed it up: “I don’t think it matters anymore what we say.”

Remember what I said earlier about Sting? I think that goes double for Cyndi Lauper. Cyndi Lauper songs require an edgy voice, or else they just end up sounding sappy and boring. But tonight Haley Scarnato chose to sing “True Colors”. It simply wasn’t a good choice. Her voice sounded okay. She looked good. But it was just really, really boring. Randy said he wasn’t jumping up and down. Paula said it had an adult contemporary vibe. Simon said it was sweet but forgettable— come on, Simon, even the dress?

Phil Stacey had the second fan question of the night. He was asked how it feels to go from being an unknown to a household name in a matter of weeks. He answered that it was exciting. He was also the second performer of the night to take on The Police, singing “Every Breath You Take”. He did MUCH better than Chris Sligh. I wasn’t crazy about the ending of the song, but I liked his voice and his performance. Randy was as surprised as Gwen Stefani how much he liked it. Paula thought he could stand to build a bit more character into his songs— whatever that means. Simon that it was good and that this was the only night where he felt like Phil was taking things seriously.

I get a bit bored with writing Melinda Doolittle’s reviews. There are only so many ways you can say she’s great without becoming boring, even to yourself. I always know Melinda’s going to turn in a solid performance, and tonight’s performance of Donna Summers’ “Heaven Knows” was as good as I would have expected. If I have any complaints with Melinda, it’s that I’m never truly surprised. If she’d come out tonight and sung a song by No Doubt or The Cure, I would have been a bit shocked, but it might have been more exciting to watch. Randy said that Melinda is truly a pro, as she lives the song, as opposed to just singing it. Paula said she has charisma and is a lot of fun. Simon said it wasn’t her best performance, but that it was still vocally very good.

From the beginning of the night, when they said someone was singing The Cure, I said it would be Blake Lewis. And it was. He sang “Love Song”. Based on Gwen Stefani’s comments, I think he originally included some beatboxing, but he must have decided to drop it because it wasn’t in the performance. That was probably a good idea, as I can’t imagine that particular song with beatboxing. I liked that Blake chose a song that showcases that he can really sing. Randy said it wasn’t the perfect song, but that he did a good job with it. Paula said she loved what he did with the song. Simon said that Blake is definitely the strongest guy in the competition but thought tonight’s performance was a bit boring. Okay, here’s the thing about The Cure. I was a big fan a LONG time ago. The Cure is all about brooding and moodiness. And, frankly, women are often in to brooding, moody men. So, when Simon and Randy think the performance was boring, I think it’s because they’re not female, and Blake wasn’t singing to them.

Jordin Sparks was the second person to tackle a No Doubt song tonight, taking on “Hey Baby”. I’m not sure it was the best song for her range— the lower parts seemed almost out of her register— but it was a fun performance. She showed that she could perform modern music, and I think that’s a good thing for her to showcase. Randy said this was a very risky performance but that Jordin can sing anything. Paula said she was adorable. Simon said she is the most improved contestant.

The night ended with yet another performance of a No Doubt song— this time Chris Richardson performed “Don’t Speak”. I just don’t care for Chris’ vocal style. Are you tired of hearing me say that yet? Well, I’ll probably be saying it every week, so you may just want to skip my reviews of his portion of the show. My husband pointed out tonight that he sounds a bit like Lionel Richie, and I guess he does a bit. But I LIKE Lionel Richie. Anyway, tonight (on top of the usual vocal performance style that annoys me) I thought he sounded off-key. Randy thought it was interesting and good. Paula thought it was good. Simon said it was a much better choice of song than last week but that he didn’t like the vocal. See, I’m not the only one.

So, here’s my ranking of tonight’s performances:

1. Gina Glocksen
2. Blake Lewis
3. Phil Stacey
4. Melinda Doolittle
5. Jordin Sparks
6. LaKisha Jones
7-9 (put them in whatever order you like) Chris Sligh, Haley Scarnato, and Chris Richardson
10. (altogether now) Sanjaya Malakar

How did you rank them?

What did you think of tonight’s results?
Stephanie was my favorite!: 7% (10)
I’m surprised she went home.: 57% (76)
I’m not surprised.: 23% (31)
She wasn’t my favorite, so I’m glad.: 13% (17)
Total Votes : 134

Gwen Stefani will be mentoring the final 10 on American Idol this week. The theme is pop music. She will be performing “The Sweet Escape” with Akon on Wednesday’s results show.

If you’re like my husband (who had no idea who Gwen Stefani is)— yes, our age is beginning to catch up with us when it comes to music— here’s the video of “The Sweet Escape”. It’s a cute and clean video.

If you missed it, here it is. If I find one with better video, I’ll change it over later, but this one is reasonably good:

Tonight’s show went really quickly. They should have two guest judges more often. Because there were two guest judges performing, there was no group performance tonight. Peter Noone sang “There’s A Kind of Hush All Over The World”, which was nice. It’s the kind of music my husband really likes.

Then we got to see tonight’s Ford commercial. The contestants sang “Another Saturday Night” in a laundromat with lots of bubbles. It was cute. I’ll try to get it posted here tomorrow, in case you missed it.

After the commercial, it was on to the eliminations. Even these went pretty quickly. Phil, Melinda and Blake were asked to stand and told they were not the bottom three. Chris Sligh, LaKisha Jones and Jordin Sparks were asked to stand and told they were not the bottom three. Sanjaya Malakar, Haley Scarnato and Gina Glocksen were asked to stand (they actually looked a bit nervous) and were told THEY were not the bottom three. Which left, of course, Stephanie Edwards and Chris Richardson as the bottom TWO.

After another commercial break, Lulu sang. She performed “To Sir, With Love” from the movie by the same name. I’ve included her 1967 performance of the song (her voice sounds just as good as ever):

After yet another commercial, we were down to the elimination. Chris was told he would not be going home, leaving Stephanie Edwards to be eliminated.

I like Stephanie. She can definitely sing. But the last few weeks, I’ve found her a bit boring. I hope she gets a better sense of who she wants to be, finds an agent and starts recording some music. Best wishes.

Just keep in mind, I don’t decide who stays or goes. So, the 100+ of you who are terribly disappointed that your favorite to go home wasn’t even in the bottom two— Sorry. Don’t shoot the messenger.

Who should go home tonight?
Haley Scarnato: 6% (15)
Chris Richardson: 3% (8)
Stephanie Edwards: 6% (17)
Blake Lewis: 1% (2)
LaKisha Jones: 1% (3)
Phil Stacey: 12% (33)
Jordin Sparks: 0% (1)
Sanjaya Malakar: 63% (170)
Gina Glocksen: 4% (12)
Chris Sligh: 1% (3)
Melinda Doolittle: 2% (5)
Total Votes : 269