The American Idolater

You know, that was a good show. That’s the kind of American Idol I like to see. A few bad performances, but mostly everyone did a very good job tonight. Lulu was one of the best guests they’ve ever had; she gave great advice to all of the girls, and it probably helped all of them pull off this show. I didn’t see that kind of great advice from Peter Noone, but it was still very good.

Haley Scarnato — Gee, I wonder what her strategy is, with her bra-less bouncing boobs, invisible shorts, and high heels? I don’t know if I was just distracted by all of that, but it seemed like she sang a lot better than usual this week. I don’t think it was (all) distraction, I think she really did a fairly decent job. Of course, my expectations were pretty low, so maybe that had something to do with it.

Chris Richardson — I’d like Chris R better if he wasn’t so freaking nasal every time. This was one of his better performances. How weird is it that he has to fight the urge to melisma all over the place, as he admitted after his song?

Stephanie Edwards — Definitely one of her weaker performances. I didn’t think it was as bad as the judges were making it out to be, though. They’ve praised much worse performances than that one. Given her low standing according to DialIdol last week, and with this week being a worse performance, that can’t be a good sign for her.

Blake Lewis — Not too bad. Only minimal beatboxing, and what boxing he did worked for the song. Not his best performance, but far better than last week.

Lakisha Jones — Why can I never remember Lakisha’s last name, and always have to check my category list on the side to find out who she is? This performance was good, but not as good as some of her past ones. Weird choice of song, since I just associate “Diamonds are Forever” with the James Bond movie, and not really with an American Idol performance. Less shouty than usual, which is good, but it just didn’t work that well.

Phil Stacey — Ouch, not good. This song needs a big voice that has some grit to it, and Phil’s voice just didn’t work. The band was so much bigger than him, he just sounded thin and wimpy in comparison. Didn’t work at all.

Jordin Sparks — Wow, now we’re talking. Probably my favorite of Jordin’s performances, ever. She just blew away everyone that sang before her.

Sanjaya Malakar — The little girl (Ashley) who couldn’t stop crying while Sanjaya was butchering The Kinks was awesome. She just took this episode to a whole new level. Who out there on their couch hasn’t felt like bursting into tears whenever Sanjaya starts singing, after all? And the way she couldn’t stop? Fantastic. And Sanjaya being his usual, vote for the worst thrilling self? Good times. Sanjaya is totally the Kevin Covais of American Idol season 6, just without all the hilarious facial expressions. The funny hair will have to suffice.

Gina Glocksen — Damn, why can’t Gina just knock one out of the stadium? I’m sure she’s better than that performance of Paint It Black, but she’s just not bringing it. Did I just say “bringing it?” That Randy, rubbing off in all the wrong ways. Seriously, this performance was just not very good, which is sad, because I still like Gina and want to see her at least make the Top 10, and therefore make the American Idol tour. But I think she’s in serious trouble after that one. She was really shaky in parts, and just didn’t bring the power and emotion that the song needed. Lulu was saying that if she really gets into it and lets go, she could do an amazing job. But, sadly, Gina didn’t manage to do that. I did like the new melody she put in there, but that’s about it.

Chris Sligh — Not bad. Much better than his Coldplay rip-off last week, but not his best. “Fro Patro” is a dumb slogan. Pretending to stab Simon Cowell with the mic stand was a nice touch, though.

Melinda Doolittle — As always, great job. Actually, maybe my least favorite performance of hers, but that’s only because every single one has been incredible. This was just the least incredible of all the incredibles. Needs a new haircut.

And then more crying little girl at the end to get us all rolling on our couches laughing. Thanks, Ryan! Awesome. Plus the one cut to the pissed off little girl in the audience who was thinking, “what the hell? Why is she up there and not me? Just because I’m not some little crying baby I don’t get to go on stage? This is bullshit.” You know that’s what she was thinking.

DialIdol

DialIdol says that Jordin, both Chris’s, Stephanie, Gina, and Haley could all be in the bottom 3 tonight. Phil is actually up in second place, just behind Melinda. I don’t get that at all. Is there some alternate universe Vote For the Worst going on that’s chosen Phil as their contender? The two worst tonight (Phil and Sanjaya) are definitely safe, according to DialIdol.

I’m not sure who I’d like to see go the most out of those. Definitely not Jordin, she was probably the best of the night. Chris Richardson I don’t have strong feelings about either way. I feel like Stephanie deserves to stick around longer, but I wouldn’t be too sad to see her go. Chris Sligh probably needs to wind up in the bottom 3 just to shake him up and make him lose some of his cockiness, but he shouldn’t go yet. I’d love for Gina to stick around, but I can’t say she really deserves to after her performance last night. And then Haley, at the bottom. I was definitely ready to see her go until she came out all jiggly last night. But vocally she’s probably the least deserving of all of DialIdol’s potential bottom 3.