TV Wednesday: American Idol

I've had a crap track record this year predicting who's going home. I was 50/50 last week. I was surprised that Phil went home as I thought his strength with the C&W crowd and southern roots would pull him through. I knew Chris was weak with the voters but I really thought he was the best last week. But I've done pretty good job of predicting my top choices from the start of the season. I don't want to take too much credit for that as it seems obvious to me and the rest of America that Jordin and Melinda are gonna duke it out in the finals.

And what was up with the love-in moment last week between Chris and Blake? "I'd go home for him," Chris said with a tear in his eye. "We're going on tour together," Blake said with a grin. How sweet. I just wanna pinch that pudgy little cheek of his.

** SPOILER ALERT FOR REST OF POST **

Now for this week's show:

An evening from the Barry Gibb song catalog. Can that guy fit any more fake teeth in that mouth of his?

Now that we have worked our way down to the final four performers, each contestant now sings two selections to fill the hour. My complaint about many of the songs was the slow and plodding pace. When it happens to more than one of the singers, I wonder what went wrong? Is it the band? Is it the arrangement?

The Final 4
Melinda Doolittle
Song 1: Love You Inside Out — Yawn. Boorrriiinng. Sure she sang all the notes flawlessly, but that just isn't enough at this point. C'mon, there's only three shows left...don't run out of gas yet!

Song 2: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart? — Same. I wish she had sung the entire song like she did the last word.

Styling: Non-descript. Kinda like she is.

Blake Lewis
Song 1: You Should Be Dancing — Chose a song to show off more of the beatbox. A little bit of that goes a long way. A lot of it sucks. Seacrest usually irritates me but I gotta give him props for teasing Blake with the beatbox stuff during the performance summary. Between making dumbass sounds, Blake did okay, and didn't get tripped up with the falsetto.

Song 2: This Is Where I Came In — More beatbox. I'm over it. And him. There's only so far looks will take you with me, and we've found the limit. Buh-bye.

Styling: I usually don't get his get-ups, but I did like the jacket in segment one and the 75/25 argyle/white sweater he had on in segment two. I wonder if he sewed it himself?

LaKisha Jones
Song 1: Stayin' Alive — Slow and plodding. With that dancing, I thought she was gonna pinch a loaf right in her tights.

Song 2: Run To Me — Slow in the beginning but ended strong all except the last note when she got hoarse and couldn't hold the note...don't know if her throat was dry or if her vocal chords are just stressed from so much use.

Styling: Her ass needs to invest in some Spanx.

Jordin Sparks
Song 1: To Love Somebody — This was a ballad, and the tempo was supposed to be slow, but it seemed too slow for me. Zzzzzzzzzz.

Song 2: Woman In Love — The best performance of the night! Straight up and powerful. The judges didn't like it but I say, "Go Jordin!"

Styling: An apron with a casino-carpet print as a dress worn over jeans isn't cute.

My Predictions For This Week
• Best — Jordin Sparks
• Worst — Blake Lewis
• Out — Blake Lewis

Wow, I was particularly bitchy this week. And I'm not in a bad mood, so I'll chalk it up to the performances. It isn't always me.

Past Results: The Top 10 Go On Tour This Summer
• Out 5/2/7 — Chris Richardson #5
• Out 5/2/7 — Phil Stacey #6
• Out 4/18/7 — Sanjaya Malakar #7
• Out 4/11/7 — Haley Scarnato #8
• Out 4/4/7 — Gina Glocksen #9
• Out 3/28/7 — Chris Sligh #10

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• Out 3/21/7 — Stephanie Edwards
• Out 3/14/7 — Brandon Rogers
• Out 3/8/7 — Jared C., Sundance H., Antonella B., Sabrina S.
• Out 3/1/7 — Nick P., A.J. Tabaldo, Alaina A., Leslie H.
• Out 2/22/7 — Rudy C., Paul K., Amy K., Nicole T.
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