TV Wednesday: American Idol

LaKisha's run at the title of American Idol ended last week. She was an early favorite in the competition but she ran out of steam, suffering at the hands of the falsetto-voiced Bee Gees.

After last week's show based on Barry Gibb songs, I couldn't resist including the following clip from 1977. I was a freshman in high school:


** SPOILER ALERT FOR REST OF POST **

Now for this week's show:

Each judge chose a song to be sung by a particular contestant as the first song. In year's past, this has been a disaster. For people that supposedly know music, Randy and Paula couldn't pick a song if their lives depended on it. The exception to this was Simon's choice of Over The Rainbow for Katharine McPhee last year which made her a star.

The Final 3
Jordin Sparks

Simon chose the first song:

Song 1: "Wishing On A Star" (Rose Royce) — Uninspired.

The producers chose the second song:

Song 2: "She Works Hard For The Money" (Donna Summer) — Another chance to blow the roof off and she came up short. She didn't seem very into it.

Performer's choice for the third song:

Song 3: "I Who Have Nothing" (Shirley Bassey) — She seemed most into this performance...maybe because she selected it. Very well done.

Styling: I loved the purple colors of her first dress, but she seems to have a penchant for dresses with an empire waist. I'm no fashion consultant, but I think it makes her look even taller.

Blake Lewis

Paula chose the first song:

Song 1: "Roxanne" (The Police) — He did a great job. A bit of pacing issues for me. I agreed with Simon that the comparisons with Sting would be inevitable and could have been considered a setup for failure.

The producers chose the second song:

Song 2: "This Love" (Maroon 5) — This was an excellent song choice for him. Good pacing and clearly within his range. Some minor beatboxing but I'll forgive him for that since it was a small part and he didn't have any of it in the first song.

Performer's choice for the third song:

Song 3: "When I Get You Alone" (Robin Thicke) — I'm obviously too old. I remember the original song Beethoven's Fifth that was sampled in this one, but I have no idea what this song was, what he said, or what it was about. It's pretty sad when I have to google it to find out what it was...thanks to Randy for mentioning Robin Thicke (son of Alan). [Side note: Saw Alan Thicke as Billy Flynn in the travelling company of Chicago and he was pretty good.] Robin's getting raves lately and doing the talk show circuit but I haven't heard a performance of his that I've liked.

Styling: I wish I could get a close up look at those forearm tats. He pulled out another sweater vest from his ecclectic collection. Anyone else think he's done a pretty good job of hiding that he's short and shaped like a pear?

Melinda Doolittle

Randy chose the first song:

Song 1: "I Believe In You And Me" (Whitney Houston) — Did she say thank you Randy Johnson in her pre-taped piece? The song was churchy. My mom just declared, "She's hollering, not singing." I liked it.

The producers chose the second song:

Song 2: "Nutbush City Limits" (Ike and Tina Turner) — The song choice was in the right direction with Tina Turner but Melinda couldn't do much with the song. Solid.

Performer's choice for the third song:

Song 3: "I'm A Woman" (Peggy Lee) — She worked the crowd with a pretty good performance.

Styling: Beautiful dresses and very nice styling.


The judges seemed to give favorable reviews to each contestant for every song even though they didn't seem to deserve it. I suspect they were pulling a middle of the road position to let the public decide. Seacrest tried to get them to commit at the end of the show. Only Simon weighed in and said he expected Melinda to be in the top 2 and wouldn't choose the other.

My Predictions For This Week
• Best — Melinda Doolittle
• Worst — Jordin Sparks
• Out — Blake Lewis (I hope Jordin's prior performances pull her through.)

Past Results: The Top 10 Go On Tour This Summer
• Out 5/9/7 — LaKisha Jones #4
• 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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