Top 5

On Tuesday, the remaining contestants will sing 2 songs – one from the year of their birth one from this week’s Billboard’s Top 10 charts.

Paris better bring it.

I'm still betting on a Chris vs. Katharine show-down.

Poll Results (Love Songs Week)

Top 6 Review

Katherine - She actually did really well last night. The problem is that the song is so synonimous (sp?) with Whitney that you can't help but compare the two. Katharine was definitely on pitch-wise and was able to belt her way through the song and make it sound good. The problem is that her voice just isn't as strong as Whitney's so it didn't have the same feel to it. But did she sound bad? Not in the slightest. I thought she sounded great I really liked her performance.

Elliot - OMG, this boy is really growing on me. I think he has been quietly improving throughout the competition and I would love to see him step up and make all the way to the finals. He was amazing last night. What was even more amazing was Paula's reaction. Her crying incoherence was an all-time high for her. I think that should be one of the best Idol moments ever. Ralph on KROQ said it best today when he said "she's like one of those drunk girls at a frat party that's crying all over the place, and then later screaming 'I Love You' to someone, and then at the end of the night is found up in someone's room being used like a train by half the house". I busted up laughing.

Kellie - Seriously, do we even need to talk about this two-bit hooker? She was so pathetic. I thought it was amazing that no one even booed when she got such bad reviews. Everyone knew she was horrible. There is no way that she can escape being in the bottom. Even on the boards her fans couldn't help but recognize how much she sucks. One even said "I've seen the light. Watching her tonite made me realize how out of her league she is. Her voice is by far the weakest of them all. I'm not voting for her anymore." Let's move on.

Paris - I'm not really a fan of this song. I thought she was alright. It wasn't a horrible performance but it wasn't great either.

Taylor - I can't remember if I even liked his performance. I don't really remember anything about it. I guess I would remember if I hated it so I guess it wasn't that bad.

Chris - I've never heard of this song but I really liked it. I think I need to start singing while lying on the floor too. That might help me. He was awesome last night. I love when he just sings and doesn't really try to force anything. Best of the night behind Elliot.

So who's in the bottom 3? The women. I think Kat, Kellie (finally) and Paris hit the lows. Who is going home? If the gods want it, the stars are lined up correctly, and Baby Jesus hates U$C then Kellie will go home. In reality, Paris is going the one leaving tonite. I voted for everyone except Kellie last night and all of the lines were pretty busy, except for Paris. I probably got 10 votes in for her and about 1 or 2 for everyone else (in the whole 2 hours). I have a feeling that Kellie is going to squeak by again. But hopefully being so close to being gone will really rattle her nerves and she'll just keep fucking up from here on out.

McTwins

Poll Results (American Songbook Week)

Now That's What I'm Talking About!

I knew this theme would be a good one. You can't really go wrong with these kinds of standards (unless your name is Kellie Pickler) and I had a feeling that everyone would be on their game. I wasn't disappointed at all. This was, by far, the best night of Idol this season. It really showed how talented everyone is and, now that Bucky is gone, how wide open the field is because whoever is in the bottom 3 tonite doesn't deserve to be there (except for Kellie).

Chris. That was so awesome and he sounded so great. I would love for him to put that song on the AI5 CD. I think that could have been his best performance yet!

Paris. I love when she does this jazzy kind of stuff. That's definitely her forte. She needs to be doing the Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald kind of thang. She was working it out! And she didn't need to shake her weave all over the place. I loved it.

Taylor. I loved what he did to the song at the end. I thought it was a great choice and he sounded awesome.

Elliott. I can't believe that Simon said he showed no personality. Had he noticed that just about everyone was just standing at the mic and singing, not really moving around or connecting with anyone? Anyways, he sounded great as well. I am really starting to like him.

Then we have Kellie. She's such a dumb twat. She was way off. It was a boring song, but even if the song is boring you have to sing it well. I remember back in the good ol' days Randy would tell Kelly (Clarkson) and Clay "that song was boring, but you know what? You sang the hell out of it! It was amazing!". Kellie came nowhere near that. She was off key the whole time and knew it. The sad thing is that her voice is so much stronger now than it was during in the beginning. I think vocally, she's the most improved of the bunch and people are picking up on that. She's the one that could carry it all the way through because she's improviing throughout the competition. People like Chris and Katharine were so good and polished in the beginning that people will start to get bored of them now because they know they're going to knock it out of the park each week.

Ace was actually really good. He was a little nasal in the middle of the song but the beginning and the end sounded great. He really needs to start singing more stuff in that lower register because it sounds nice. I think he tends to go nasally when he's right in the middle of the lower and the falsetto. But I really liked him last night (except for the pulled back hair. That looked so bad. Now I know he's straight cuz no gay guy would ever do that.)

And Katharine was by far the best of the night. This is her type of music and she was brilliant. And damn, she's so hot too.

So the bottom 3 will be Elliot, Ace, and Kellie. And if Kellie miraculously doesn't make it to the bottom then I think it'll be Paris. Who should go home tonite? Kellie, by a mile. Who will go home tonite? Probably Ace unfortunately. It sucks because now everyone that's left is really good and could win this so each week is going to be really tough to see someone leave. I just hope that Kellie is the one to go.

The Half Way Point: It's All About Song Choice

Ok, it's not really the half-way point of the show but I think we still need to stop and take a look at what's been happening. Now, maybe it's just me but I feel like this season is one of the most boring ever. Which I find very interesting because it's also the season with the best overall talent. So how can that be? Song choice (and theme weeks). The themes that the producers have been choosing this season are awful! I've never been a fan of theme weeks that revolve around a band/artist because it doesn't give the contestants enough flexibility. And, it's pretty easy to see who the producers are trying to get voted off because there is always someone who will have a hard time with it. Looking back to Season 1 and 2 there were some really good themes that allowed the contestants freedom to find songs that fit them. Themes like 60s, 70s, 80s, Billboard #1s, Movies, etc. allow for enough variety that everyone can find something they will perform well and still keep the audience entertained. If you don't like a certain artist/band then that entire episode is a chore to sit through (i.e. Gloria Estafan week?!, Stevie Wonder, etc.).

Now, even where there is a good theme these contestants are picking shitty songs. Out of a whole genre of music, they're picking songs that are boring, no one has heard of, or just plain bad (Innuendo, Suds in a Bucket, etc.) This is turn is causing all of their lackluster performances. No one has stepped up and hit it out of the park. By this time last year we already had Carrie's "Alone" performance as well as Constantine's "My Funny Valentine" and (I think) "Bohemian Rhapsody". Next week has an excellent chance of turning in some good performances. With the theme "American Songbook" there are many classic songs that this group would sound amazing on (personally, I'm betting that Elliot and Katharine turn in the best performances). Now's the time to really start picking the right songs because they're all on equal footing now. Any one of the remaining contestants can win the competition (yes, including Ace. It's a longshot but he could do it.).

The really scary thing is that when I was watching Kellie's performance on Tues I suddenly had a vision that she and Taylor were going to be in the final two. Now all along I've been saying Chris and Katharine (and I still hope it's them) but I think Kellie is slowly and quietly improving each week. Her vocals are so much better now then they were in the semi-finals. She's taking some risks and, for the most part, nailing it. Everyone was surprised that she pulled of Bohemian Rhapsody (except for her outfit) and she sounded great on Fancy. I can see her sneaking into the final spot. As for Taylor, with his song choice this week he went back to his normal, dancing self and just had fun with the song. That was the spark that's been missing from the show for the last couple of weeks. No one looks like they're having fun. Watching him this week was very refreshing and I think that if he continues to do that he'll also make it into the final two. This all goes back to song choice. If they find a song that they can connect with and have fun with (or really perform it) then we'll finally get that one break out performance that we've been missing this year. Who is gonna be? When is it gonna happen? I think next week will be a good week and hopefully some of the magic will come back.

Mandisa doesn't like the gays

So it was a little sad and a lot shocking that Mandisa was voted off this week (but I did correctly predict that one. Not sure how.) And now that she's voted off it's starting to come out that she doesn't really care for gay people too much because it sorta goes against her religious beliefs. However, she says that she loves everyone but wouldn't want to perform at a gay event so I think someone is a little confused. That's pretty sad because she was all set up to become a huge gay icon. Oh well.

http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid29157.asp

Country Shocker Night

I'll keep this quick. I think tonite will be another "shocker" elimination. So, that means that I think Bucky is staying tonite (because really, anyone leaving besides Bucky at this point is a shocker). I think that the shocker will be the bottom 3 (and who ends up getting eliminated). Based on last night's performances, I think the bottom 4 are Taylor, Mandisa, Ace, and Katharine. I think Mandisa and Ace are bottom 2 but not sure who the 3rd is. I have a feeling that Mandisa will end up going home tonite. Yes, any one of these would end up being a shocker tonite (although Ace is really cutting it close now). Bucky got lucky having this theme this week. I can't believe he's gotten this far.