Vindication!!

I'm happy that I won't be needing to pursue my plans to move to Canada (in case America decided to KEEP Kellie on), but suddenly realized last night that now I'M in a pickle!! Now that Kellie is gone, it is going to be SO much harder to try to decide which of the final five doesn't deserve to stay.

Because, come on, I think we all know that any of these final five contestants is capable of being the next American Idol. I won't be disappointed at the final decision no matter what, just personally disappointed that there can't be a five-way tie. I honestly believe that each of these final five are equally talented. Each shines in a different genre --- Chris is the rocker dude, Taylor is the blues boy, Katherine is the ballad queen, Elliott can follow in Michael Buble's footsteps and Paris could be this generation's Billie Holliday. Hopefully, each of them will enjoy a career in their music category and none will disappear, as so many past contestants have (can you say Justin Guarini??).

I'd like to thank the producers for veering from the usual and not subjecting us to another Kellie performance. I think they KNEW that the combination of Kellie's obvious hitting the boundaries of her talent paired with the inevitable tears would make for a really, really bad performance. No sense beating a dead horse by making her sing again. Although at first I thought it was a little cruel to make the departing contestant sing one last time, don't forget, for some of them it was their last opportunity to sing onstage in front of millions of people. Most of the earlier "departed" will go home and return to their former life and probably never get this opportunity again. (But I'm still glad they didn't make Kellie sing again.)

I'm hoping that the confidence levels will skyrocket at this point. I mean, after all, it had to be hard to wrestle with your self-esteem when you were being lumped with Kellie (cute girl, but not musically talented).

You all know how to improve your tennis game --- by playing with people who are better than you. You don't get better by creaming some mediocre player, you get better by pushing yourself to beat the good player. And, that theory really is applicable to everything in life. You don't develop a taste for good wine by drinking Boone's. So, having Kellie go home will hopefully boost these last five to show us all that they can be.

I'm also hoping that they keep some of that awe and inspiration that was evident on their faces when they were watching Andrea Boccelli's performance. To have him on stage, delivering his performance (without screaming, Chris) so effortlessly and beautifully (which is how I became such an Andrea Boccelli fan --- never listened to opera or much vocal classical music until I heard him sing). You could almost see the lightbulbs come on in their heads!!

I also did not catch what the "theme" of next week's show is --- can't say I was anxious to find out, because I think the producers have done a (to coin a Simon phrase) absolutely dreadful job of choosing the themes this season, but I am hoping against hope that at last these final five will gain some momentum, step out of their comfort zones and blow us away and sing as if it's the last time they'll ever be on stage.

It Didn't Take a Blind Man. . .

Okay, I admit it. . . after last week's performances I was actually looking forward to the show this week. After all, if they could all step up (well, with the exception of Kellie) with some classic songs last week, didn't it stand to reason that they might do well with "the greatest love songs"??? After all, who wouldn't listen to Andrea Bocceli's and David Foster's advice if they had a chance??

Apparently, last week's show was a fluke. . . I'm not going as far as to say I was disappointed in the performances, because there were some bright spots. But, I still feel that there's a cloud over this group. I think they're capable of so much more, but so far have been unable to show us what that is.

Katherine, besides choosing an absolutely horrendous dress for her performance (hello??? Can you say "support garment"??), followed through with a poor song choice, too. How many times do they have to hear the judges say to be careful when choosing your music, especially if it's something that is practically a signature piece for a well-known performer??? If you're going to sing a Whitney piece, you better make it yours or it's just karaoke. I was let down by Katherine. She needed to change that piece like Chris did with "Walk the Line". I love Katherine's voice, but felt it was wasted in her choice of music.

Elliott was pretty much the only bright spot, for me, in last night's show. He was enthusiastic, animated and sang beautifully. Now, if only he can get that love of performing to project through his eyes, he'll make it to the top!!

Kellie knew going into rehearsals that she was going to fail. The first thing out of her mouth was "Cover your ears". She knows she's on borrowed time. Once again, she totally ignored the experts' advice and delivered a robotic rendition of "Unchained Melody", one of the greatest love songs ever. . . IF sung with even a dash of emotion. She was off-key, got ahead of the band AGAIN (despite the overpowering drum beats no doubt injected in an attempt to keep her on track). If she had a grain of sense, she would have worn something outrageously sexy. . . that would have been the only thing that could save her.

Paris looked great, unfortunately for me sang one of my least favorite songs ever and did an okay job, but again, she's only 17. These songs needed to be drenched in emotion and Paris just hasn't had the life experience needed to bring that expression to this type of music. Zero emotion did make her sound as if she had "oversung" the piece.

Taylor looked great and sounded great in his practice session. . . so what happened when he walked out on stage??? He looked nervous, he sounded nervous and delivered a thoroughly mediocre performance. Not at all what he's capable of. I'm thinking they could fire the stylists (who really aren't doing their jobs anyway) and hire some self-esteem coaches.

And, here's where I was really let down. Although Chris' performance of "Walk the Line" was, to me, a changing moment in this competition, I really expected him to do something great with this one, too. This was his chance, and he totally let it slip away. Kudos for ditching the way overpowering band, but still, he just sang the song. The opportunity was there, but left backstage. And you just can't scream a love song, no matter who you are.

My choice for bottom three: Kellie, Paris and Taylor, and choosing Kellie to go home. If she doesn't go home this week, I'll be checking out real estate in Canada.

What the Bloody Hell Happened???

Ace went home. We all knew it was a huge possibiity, even though Kellie, with her miserable showing last night (to say nothing of that "deer in the headlights" blank look of hers when someone uses "big words") really deserved the boot.

But, will someone tell me exactly what happened with the rest of the voting?? Was I hallucinating? Was it just a bad, bad dream? Was it some bad calamari?? How could Chris and Paris be in the bottom three? Okay, so we already know not everyone likes Paris, because she has been in the bottom three once before. . . but Chris???

Chris has done nothing but consistently, week after week, show the world and everyone watching that he is a consummate performer, born to be on stage, capable of taking music, well-known, much loved, oft heard music and making it his own Hello??? Does anyone remember Chris and his rendition of "Walk the Line"??? This guy knows what he's doing. That has been crystal clear from the time he walked out of his audition with his "golden" ticket. The only error Chris has made in this entire season was to sing a really obscure song that even Queen, over the span of 30 years, didn't sing live. Okay, and he wore eyeliner and freaked me out. But let's get real!! Chris is a talent.

I'm praying that people who didn't vote for Chris this week were assuming (you know about assume, don't you --- when you assume it makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me') that Chris could never, ever, under any circumstances end up in the bottom three.

So, listen up America! It's evident that every Tom, Dick and Harry in Podunk, or wherever Kellie lives, is voting numerous times each week for her, passing those half dozen new fangled talkie things around for everyone to take a turn. Something has to be done to combat this, so vote, and vote again for the decent talented people who deserve to be in the top five.

How much respect can those poor folks have for themselves or their talents if Kellie stays much longer? They're going to start doubting their own abilities as long as she's around. She's nowhere near any of them in talent, let alone brains OR common sense.

Kellie's been to the big city now, she's ridden in a car and experienced indoor plumbing. She's tasted sal-mon and even calamari. . . now it's time for her to go home. You might ask "How are you going to keep her down on the farm?" That's easy. . . she couldn't find her way out of a paper bag. Drive her home, put her in her front yard, spin her around a couple of times and she won't even remember that she's been gone!

And please. . . no more nasty surprises like tonight's results!! I don't know if I can take another night like tonight. So, I'm off to recuperate at the happiest place on earth. I'll tell Micky y'all said "hello".

Rod Stewart . . . Who Would Have Thought??

Again, brilliant move on the producers bringing in Rod Stewart --- not for his classic rock (which would have been as painful as the Queen episode), but for his American classics.

No one was more surprised than I was at last night's show!! It went exactly as I would have wished it to.

Chris started out the show with a bang. Although I thought he might make more changes to his rendition, as he did with "Walk the Line", I was not disappointed. It was refreshing to see this other side of Chris, although, if he wins we'll never see this part again. He'll go straight to rock 'n roll.

Paris was divine, as expected. I would have made a wardrobe change (I thought she looked like an airline hostess), but it was the best performance she's made so far, and that's saying a lot.

Taylor was, finally, back in Taylor mode. Without overdoing, he did his thing and had fun doing it. Let's face it --- Taylor is best when they let him do his thing, and it never gets old.

Kellie, Kellie, Kellie. . . as much as I think she's overstayed her welcome, I would never have wished her to fail as miserably as she did last night. She's almost always a little off-key at some point in all her songs, but to get so far ahead of the band at the end. . . that was a classic 5th grade talent show error. People who know music, and know how to sing just don't make those kinds of errors.

I was so pleased at Elliott's performance --- you all know how much I like this kid, but to see him SO relaxed with that little sparkle in his eyes. . . he was downright cute last night and sang his heart out. Loved it!

Why they let the contestants do things like Ace did with his hair last night is totally beyond me. It's evident that someone backstage just doesn't like him. Hair aside, his performance was good, but not the best of the night, and also not his best. I fear for Ace this week.

And last, but certainly not least, when I thought everyone was on an even footing (except Kellie) out comes Katherine McPhee to blow us totally away. It was reminiscent of Fantasia's "Summertime" night. I think even Katherine was surprised with the effect she had, and the caliber of her performance.

(Almost) all the performances last night made it very, very hard for me to choose a bottom three, other than the obvious, Kellie. I would have to, unfortunately, place Ace and Elliott in the bottom three tonight, along with Kellie. The others were just too, too strong, and although I love Elliott and think he really deserves a chance, he has been in the bottom three several times.

And, I know it's foolish to think that, two weeks in a row my dreams could come true (first Bucky leaves, then Kellie) I will hold out hope that it would finally become apparent to America that Kellie simply doesn't belong in the competition any more.

When Dreams Come True. . .

Congratulations, American Idol!!

First: brilliant move, creating personal videos on each of the contestants!! Who's going to not vote for Kellie Mae now??? No one wants to make her Grandpa cry!! He can't even talk about her without his little chin quivering, do you think people want to be responsible for making him sad??? Way to further complicate the process for the general public. Now, not only will their vote be swayed by just that night's performance, wardrobe and song choices, but way, way, way deep in their subconcious they'll be thinking "All that poor, poor man has is that little boy and that girl, who, unless she wins this contest, will end up working at the Grain and Feed, where they won't even let her work the cash register because she's dumb as a post!" Great!! Practically guarantees that Kellie will be around for a long, long, time.

Second: sending Bucky home!!

So, after they had reduced the entire cast to tears, with the exception of Bucky (who must be a robot) and made us suffer through the unfortunate "snot rag" incident, they finally got around to telling us the bottom three.

My reaction: vindication (I knew Ace would be there), shock (Elliott???) and amazement AND joy (finally Bucky is where he belongs). And when they finally told us that Bucky was going home, I almost went into shock. It's hard for me to fathom that the same public that could put Elliott in the bottom three could also see that Bucky needed to go home.

Final verdict: I didn't hate last night's show (I'm a sucker for tear-jerkers) AND I was rewarded with knowing that, next week I don't have to hear Bucky sing again.

One Hour in Hell. . .

The biggest question of today is: Why a one-hour show for telling someone 'You're crappy, no one voted for you, go home'?

The one-hour show is obviously an attempt by the show's producers to bring some excitement to the show, which is sadly lacking during the actual competition nights. If the viewing public can't be entertained with the performances, perhaps we can get a thrill out of watching the emotional turmoil caused on a hour-long boot-off show (instead of the usual, painful enough 1/2 hour). This is strictly for those viewers who get pleasure out of seeing people run through the emotional wringer on live TV.

I think this is the part that helps winnow out the weak, the part that probably none of them prepare for or think about ahead of time. This is not just a singing competition, this is a test to see who can take the life of being a star. Not only do you have to get up in front of millions of people and sing, then stand there while three mostly unpredictable judges hurl personal insults (and sometimes a few nuggets of praise) ranging from criticism of your song choice, to wardrobe, hair and dancing ability, but you need to be prepared for the eventuality of spending what might seem like an eternity not only trying to learn your fate, but, in doing so, being put through what amounts to emotional torture, all for the entertainment of the viewing audience (and the almighty ratings).

Since I've never been a fan of emotional torture, and even though I'm pretty disappointed at the progress of the show and the talent so far, I have no desire to watch Ryan Seacrest torment these people for a full hour. (I actually think Ryan uses the elimination shows to ease his "little man syndrome" problems.)

So, tonight will be a full-on Tivo night for me. I'll be fast-forwarding through the groupings until the final announcement is made. I'm even hoping there will be some surprises in who gets voted in the bottom three, so I can get excited by something associated with this season.

Queen Me. . .

It seems everyone was a little frightened of what might happen this week, and as it turns out, they had every right to be. Eight non-professional, totally unpredictable performers singing. . . Queen. Thank God for Tivo, because this show put me to sleep. . . several times.

No surprises tonight --- they came, they sang, some chose the predictable, some chose the obscure. . . ho hum.

Bucky, perhaps in a tribute to his fallen comrade, sang "Fat Bottom Girls" (oh, COME ON. . . you knew I couldn't leave that alone). He was a little pitchy in places, but the song was as close to country as it could get, so he was still near enough to his comfort zone to not suck as badly as I thought he would.

I was a little scared by Ace's choice, but I didn't hate it. However, I didn't really like it, either.

Kellie Mae looked like she had been taken straight out of "Dawn of the Dead". Please tell me they purposely painted on those dark circles under her eyes. . . because I know from experience those can be covered up with a decent makeup artist!! Yes, it was a brave choice of song, but as stupid as Kellie is. . . dumb. And Randy, could you not think of anything else other than "nice jacket"??? Should we be voting on wardrobe now because her performance was yuck??? And, please tell me why Simon insists on using "big words" when he makes his comments to Kellie. He doesn't know by now to keep his comments to single syllable words, no witty sayings, so Kellie can follow along???

Chris' performance was one of the best of the night. . . but that's not really saying much. I thought it was an unfortunate choice of song, more than a bit obscure, but he did sing on-key. I believe they may have over-groomed his eyebrows or something. . . there was a little weirdness going on with his look tonight.

Removing the "flash" and simply singing the music was a great gimmick for Katherine --- she sounded great and looked great, too. Something unexpected, and a fresh take on the genre.

I've said it before --- I love Elliott. He really stood out tonight and sang so well that, for the first time, I wasn't distracted by his teeth.

Taylor was Taylor. I was a little disappointed by his song choice. I thought it was too predictable for him. Where Katherine's last minute decision to change her song ended up well, Taylor's decision may not have been the best.

Paris sang well, but her appearance was a bit disturbing. It bordered on creepy.

All in all, I was underimpressed with everyone except Elliott tonight. I think he did what he needed to after last week's voting.

My choice for bottom three: Ace, Kellie Mae and Taylor. However, America will not vote Kellie Mae in the bottom three because, oh I don't know, her jacket was cute??? So, I predict the bottom three will be: Ace, Taylor and Paris.

And, as much as I hate to say it, I think Ace will go home. His song choice was too, too predictable (even obscure would have been better than predictable).

Can't say I'm sitting on pins and needles until tomorrow's show. . . right now I really don't care who goes home.

Hoping against hope for SOMETHING to happen next week that will restore my enjoyment factor.

I'm NOT Over-reacting!!

Okay, so after having all day, several conversations, referencing the internet and having a sympathetic lunchtime discussion I feel a lot better!! Some would accuse me of tending to overreact once in a while, but this time I didn't. And I'm STILL shaking my head.

People at work, who don't watch regularly, have been stopping by to ask "Who got booted?" and even THEY'RE shocked!!

Some theories that are floating around: since we never know how MANY votes each person gets (and thus how close the voting may be), it may be safe to assume that people didn't vote for Mandisa because they didn't think she NEEDED votes because she was talented. I mean, some people have got to just assume that Chris is getting the majority of the votes, because he hasn't been in the bottom three, but if he is, how MANY more votes? Maybe a lot more, maybe not that many more.

There's always the "ruiners" who hate the show and vote for the least talented, just to mess with the fans (read: Bucky).

I have a bad, bad feeling about next week's show --- a combination of utter shock at losing Mandisa and having to sing Queen songs doesn't bode well for our little group.

Here's my theory about the music choices:

At the beginning of season #1, the producers put little slips of paper in a jar with artist's names. During the previous seasons if they pulled out a slip that said. . . oh, I don't know --- Queen, they exclaimed "Who's been messing around with the music jar?", tossed the slip back in the jar (1st mistake) and drew another one that was a better choice.

It's now season five and (2nd mistake) no one has replenished the jar. So now they're pulling names like Queen out of the jar and going with it. So, maybe the first thing that needs to be done, after they FIRE THE STYLISTS is to brainstorm a better list of music choices. OR take some suggestions from the fanbase. Any different tack would improve Season 5 --- take a chance!!

Man, I hope I get over this soon!

. . . and History Repeats Itself. . .

I was incapable of writing this until today. Last night's results shouldn't have shocked me as much as they did. . . I've watched this show every year except the first season, so nothing that happens should be a surprise. But I couldn't help feeling like history was repeating itself (read: Jennifer Hudson).

I'll get to the meat of the show, but I can't not say something more about Kenny Rogers. I couldn't even watch him on Tuesday, but finally got over my fears last night. . . one would think that, as tight as they've pulled his facial skin (so tight he now has to wear bangs because his natural hairline is now halfway back on his scalp) that he would be able to keep his eyes open. Maybe it's nerve damage, but it seems like he is now unable to open his eyes completely. Scary, very scary!

Now for the results: I did say that Mandisa deserved to be in the bottom three but only because her performance on Tuesday was not nearly as good as we know she is. And, yes, I've been bashing her wardrobe since the very beginning, but the girl's got talent. . . and based on her overall abilities deserved to go a lot farther than she has.

Book Mandisa and Bucky for a concert. . . who are you going to be able to listen to for an hour and a half? Don't even pretend you could handle 90 minutes of Bucky!! But, I could easily listen to and enjoy hearing Mandisa for that amount of time. . . and longer.

This is the time of the season when I really feel for the competitors, especially on "boot off" nights. . . they're grouped for the drama factor, but poor Ace and Katherine standing on stage together, thinking in their hearts that one or the other was going home (because they've both been in the bottom three before). . . that was almost too hard to watch.

Voting Elliott in the bottom three. . . just plain scares me. I start thinking, hey, I live in a place where they elected the Terminator to run the state!!! Makes it seem possible that the country could vote Kellie Mae as the next idol, a thought that is downright frightening.

I see the rest of the season going one of two ways --- everyone else gets the crap scared out of them that a talented performer like Mandisa can get voted off this early and they finally start making some decent song choices and taking some real chances OR they all lose their faith in their own ability and resign themselves to Chris winning and we end up sitting through 7 more lackluster shows until we're put out of our misery.

I am SO hoping to see the final eight step up and throw us some happy surprises!! Here's to reviving this season's American Idol as opposed to renaming the show American I-Dull!

Did They Say Kenny Rogers???

I thought tonight's show was very entertaining, including the actual competitors.

I thought the Kenny Rogers impersonator was excellent --- had Kenny's voice down, and looked a lot like him, too!! Really, it was a little spooky hearing his voice come out of a face that looks a little scary and isn't even his anymore. . . he's become a poster child for an episode of Plastic Surgery Gone Wrong.

I'm afraid next week's competition might be pre-empted so they can do an intervention for Paula --- what is she on??? If not an intervention, maybe they can strap her in her chair so she can at least stay upright!! Oh, and when they give the 2-minutes til showtime warning, can someone bring Paula some very strong, very black coffee??? She's gone beyond entertaining and is now sliding into "just plain sad" territory.

I have a suggestion for next year --- why don't they can the country episode altogether? It's clear that Simon is totally unable to judge a genre that he "doesn't care for", so let's avoid an entire episode of Simon pouting because he doesn't like the music.

Okay, on to the real show!

I really enjoyed Taylor's performance. It was refreshing to see him just sing a song. . . no Joe Cocker, no Stevie Wonder antics. . . just Taylor. It was kind of nice. But Alyssa, I'm not sure I see the resemblance to Stuart that you see.

I feel like Chandler --- Mandisa's outfit --- so many things to say. But, I won't dwell on the obvious "horizontal stripes on a big gal" thing tonight. If she hadn't struggled so much with her song and given such a weak performance I'd be all over her wardrobe choice. I feel badly for her that she did so poorly, so I won't kick her while she's down.

One word for Elliott -- wow! His voice was so pure tonight. I didn't see nervousness like Simon did, I heard a vulnerability in his voice tonight. Good job! Keep it up and you could be in the final five.

Paris tried, but she couldn't make me believe that she enjoyed singing country at all. Her heart just wasn't in her performance. Try as she might to make us feel something, she was wanting to get it over and just going through the motions.

I liked Ace's rendition. It was all Ace, no goo-goo eyes into the camera, just a heartfelt performance tonight.

Unfortunately for Kellie Mae, she couldn't reach the low notes and may as well have been singing in Arabic, because I didn't understand a word of what she sang.

I have another "wow" for Chris --- he moved away from his powerhouse singing and showed a softer side tonight.

Someone told me he thought Katherine might pull out a big performance tonight, and he was right!! Simon hated it --- I thought it was fabulous. She was so comfortable onstage and had all the confidence in the world. . . and rightly so.

And, surprise, surprise, I'm cutting Bucky some slack tonight --- I didn't hate his performance. . . again. I'm not a Bucky convert, never will be, I'm convinced he won't make it another three weeks, but tonight he was not horrible.

Okay, so my picks for the bottom three tomorrow: Mandisa, Paris and Kellie. (I know, I know --- not Bucky?) and my choice would be to send Kellie home.

But I think most of American thinks Kellie is adorable (unlike my own opinion of her --- can you hear me gagging??), so it's likely that Ace could be in the bottom three tomorrow night instead of Kellie and he may be sent home, which will be a shame.