Watched the boys last night, and they all improved. Even poor Sanjaya, sadly he didn’t improve near enough for me to care, but he’s riding a wave of popularity the likes that would make Chicken Little blush. I hear Michael Jackson has wild popularity, so whudda thunk. He’ll make the final 12. Which means the spots are down to five that will make it. The other red-shirts might include Sundance riding the cresting wave of VFTW and a cute baby that has hit puberty a bit early. Which means there are only four slots left for boys that can sing, just like Randy said last week. Those, I think will be the two Chris’, Blake and one other, for which I really don’t have a care who is in it, so long as they outlast Sundance and Sanjaya.
The girls are starting, and Simon’s advice is to make sure that the contestants create an image for themselves. Was that Antonella that just hid behind the stanchion in the balcony, because she’s certainly made an image, but it has NOTHING to do with singing. No links from me, but google is really all you need. First up is Gina, who does a rocking rendition of Heart’s Alone. She needs to lose the red streak in her hair, but her pipes work well. I’m time-shifting live blogging, so I’ll hit the other girls as we go.
Alaina is from Redlands, Callifornia. Cool, my old hometown, so now I have someone to root for, unfortunately she picks I’m not ready to make nice, as a dedication to her mother. Hmmm… Okay, I knew I left Redlands for a reason! I hate the song, and I hate her singing only slightly less than Natalie Manes. The judges agree with me.
Fresh off her Academy Award win, Lakisha… oh wait, she’s isn’t JHud. She’s taking the midnight train, and does it good, she has pipes, and can sing just about anything and everything, good, but wasn’t as powerful as last week. She’s safe. Simon’s working on everyone’s image tonight.
Let me jump up on this soapbox a bit. I wish that Paula and Randy would just let Simon speak. He is a producer, and he knows what will sell. He does give good style advice I think, he is consistent with his ‘look’, which doesn’t mean he doesn’t know style. Simon also lets them speak when it is his tour, but the other two never let him speak a full sentence. I wish they’d give him the same courtesy. Okay.
Melinda sang very well, top shelf. All of the comments are spot on, and she did a great job on that song. The only problem is her and Lakisha pull from the same pool of voters, unfortunately that means the chances of those two being in the final four are slim. Especially when the popular singers (Antonella, Sanjaya, Sundace, just for example) can’t sing near as well as those two.
Antonella is up, and will they address the skank internet image issue at all? In some little way I’m rooting for her… but she doesn’t have the same talent as others that made it to this point. Not a bad job hitting that high note, a blip on the radar for this song though. Better than last week, and she’ll ride VFTW love on to the final 12, probably… unfortunately…
Jordin had a pretty rough start, timing and pacing before the melody is poor. She had her ups and downs. She could go far, so long as she doesn’t have a bad week. Needs to survive this song, not sure if she will. Judges are handicapping her a BUNCH, they want her back. She was number four on dialidol, so she might survive.
Stephanie Edwards is up, she’s the third person that will ensure that we won’t have a Lakisha, Melinda and Stephanie final, as much as that would be awesome, the mechanics of voting make the other two her main competition. I think they’ll all make the final 12, with Antonella (who I don’t think it even close to the same league as her) which only leave two other spots. Good song, good performance, and great voice.
Haley and Leslie, won’t make the final 12, I’ll state that before they even start singing tonight. I do agree with Paula, (pause, was that thunder?) that there are different flavors, and these two are definitely not the same flavor as Lakisha, Melinda and Stephanie. Which does has its benefit, because the people that like their flavor, have to split their vote, which someone that likes a different flavor only has one choice.
Sabrina is Brenna’s favorite, so lets see how she stacks up. She was most popular on dialidol last week, so she’s a safe bet, I think we’ve narrowed the final six by one more. My call one week out is: Lakisha, Melinda, Sabrina, Stephanie, Gina and Antonella final six.
Who should go home: Antonella and Alina
Who will go home: Alina and Leslie