And that’s why Jordin will beat Lakisha and Melinda. Both of the latter made big mistakes this week. They had a chance to do something new and young and to show their versatility, but they did the same old thing. It was predictable and boring, even if they were both impeccable. Melinda was worse because her song didn’t really have much of a tune. Jordin, on the other hand, was young and fun. The No Doubt song she did isn’t very tuneful, either, and it didn’t showcase her singing ability very well, but she was in this century while Lakisha and Melinda were still in the 70’s.
Worst of all for Melinda is that I can’t see her pulling off anything other than the same old thing. She’s too old for No Doubt.
Gina bounced back this week. If she can pull off that kind of thing consistently, she has a chance of escaping the next several weeks.
On the boys’ side, nobody impressed. Chris R., Blake, and Phil did just fine, but nothing special. I like that Blake did the Cure, but it was a sleepy song. Plus, the melody in the accompaniment, which makes the song, in my opinion, was way deemphasized. Chris S. is in trouble. “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” is a good song and could have been fun, but he didn’t sing it well and his personality didn’t come through.
The bottom three should be Haley, Sanjaya, and Phil. I look for Haley to go. I think she’s been good enough to lose the sympathy vote and her choice of “True Colors” is more evidence that she has the most boring, forgettable sensibility of the lot.
[Update:]
I loved Secrest’s little gaffe last night. Blake, I think it was, started singing a no doubt song after his performance and Secrest told him not to sing that, otherwise they’d have to pay for it. Then he said that he’s going to be in trouble with Fox for making that comment. Apparently the producers don’t want us to know that they have to pay for the songs they use. That has me thinking, what else do the Idol producers not want us to know?
Here are my guesses:
-That Melinda is on loan from Willy Wonka
-That Randy really does only have 30 words in his vocabulary
-That Paula is lip synching
What else?
Kulturblog 
I could not agree with your first statement more. That was the exact conversation we had last night in our house. Gwen stuff and they went with…Donna Summer? Not smart.
Chris R. sucked so much I cried. I love that song and the butchering was horrid. Gwen was right. He messed it up.
Sanjaya. Did you feel like he was mocking himself? Or very arrogant. Just….bad.
I was sad that Chris S. didn’t do better. Could have been so much better. My prediction is that he’ll be in bottom 3. If only to “get him back” for the “hi dave” from last week.
By the end of the show, I had totally forgotten Haley McPhee had even sung. I don’t think that’s a good thing. I think it’s her week to go.
Bottom 3 will be Chris S, Haley and…Phil or Sanjaya. Haley going home.
I’ll be kind of surprised if Haley goes home. I’m hoping it’s Phil or Sanjaya.
I seriously doubt Jordin will beat out Melinda.
I also agree that Jordin will overtake the other two because she can actually do more and offer more.
Sanjaya is arrogant. I think it was sad before, now it’s just a joke.
Chris S. was really bad. I thought “True Colors” was actually a really good song choice, but terribly performed by Haley.
I think it’s funny how some competitors can do an updated cover of song that’s already been done (a la 311’s cover of “Lovesong”) and completely fool the judges into thinking they came up with it all on their own. Chris Daughtry did it last year with the Chili Peppers’ version of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground”.
And what the hell was Gwen Stefani doing there? She offered absolutely nothing but her name. She joins the Queen leftovers as possibly the worst celebrity guests on the show yet.
Even though the judges praise her every week and even though she a good singer, Melinda sounds the same every week. AI voters have little tolerance for that. And even if she wins, what kind of career can she have? Putting out 70s covers? And her mock humility that started out cute is starting to annoy. I see a “shocking boot” coming around weeks 4-6. Although I do think she’ll last longer than Lakisha.
And, Tim, you are right about the 311 / Cure thing. I was so excited when I read he was doing the Cure. I should have thought about it 1/2 second longer to realize he was really doing the bad 311 cover of the Cure and the judges wouldn’t know it…
Blake vs. Jordin in the most mediocre American Idol finale ever.
I don’t know. Season 3 was pretty weak with Fantasia & Diana. It’s about on par with that…
My question is whether Sanjaya is this stupid or this smart? I mean, he could actually know about the votefortheworst and Howard Stern thing and be doing this stuff because he knows he has no chance so why the hell not. And if that’s the case, I applaud him. Better this than go out wimpering. On the other hand, he could be an oblivious teenager with all those around him not wanting to hurt his feelings with the news, so he actually is just this stupid. I mean, it’s ridiculous, but I love the gasps and it’s a great thing to talk about with co-workers. Without him, I’d be talking about what’s going to be on tonight (Lost) rather than what was on last night (Sanjaya-hawk). It’s pure entertainment.
Sanjaya knows. He obviously knows. That hair last night was awesome. He realizes that he is the chosen “vote for the worst” candidate and seems to be cool going kamikaze on it. I agree that it is pure entertainment to see. Plus by him playing along with the gag makes him look less pathetic so it is not nearly as painful now.
All my hearts are belong to Sanjaya.
I
cannot
wait
to see what he does next with his hair.
Other things AI doesn’t want us to know?
That trip to Africa was Ry-ry’s & Simon’s honeymoon.
Their *real* TCO this season IS Sanjaya.
The crying girl is a robot.
How they pick the contestants? Blood type. For Clive Davis’ daily transfusion/re-animation.
Oh I should also mention I agree with the comments above about Lakisha and Melinda. Busting out another 30 year old disco tune is not gonna cut it anymore. Yeah we know they both have great pipes but they both looked and sounded like they were in their mid 40s to me last night.
Usually there are three or four who could challenge for the title. Occasionally someone will get voted off early like Tamyra Gray or Chris Daughtery. This year I only tune in if it happens to be convenient because Melinda is the only one with any talent. The rest are excruciating to listen to.
I also have the impression that Sanjaya knows he’s the “vote for the worst” candidate and that he owes his being there to them. It’s not entirely clear to me that he really wants to be there anymore and I think he’s filled with a “what the hell” attitude. He gave a little bit of lip to Simon last night and it was actually cool. The fauxhawk looked stupid – but that may have been intentional.
I wonder what he might think of next to show his disdain for the whole situation.
a big nanannana to the idol machine.
Daughtry!’s CD debuted at no.4 on the Billboard 200 a couple weeks ago (i’m sure the use of one of his singles for the contestant farewell videos on AI has nothing to do with it)
Elliott Yamin’s CD debuted at no.3 this week.
hee.