Happiest moment of my week

Ahhh sheer bliss.

Country Night at American Idol and Elliott's new Album

I'm really sorry but I really can't appreciate country music all that much. This is a big reason why I do not like Carrie Underwood's music. Because of this, I was not all too excited about American Idol this week.

I'd have to say I only enjoyed Blake's performance. I think Melinda's performance was way too rodeo for my taste; Lakisha's performance was actually quite solid, I liked how she sang "Jesus Takes the Wheel" more than Carrie in my opinion; Chris Richardson wasn't all too bad; I'm not gonna even start with Sanjaya.

I'm wondering why Ryan Seacrest was strongly defending Sanjaya when Simon gave his honest criticisms. Honestly, Simon isn't biased. He gives opinions to every Idol contestant the same way. It just so happens that Sanjaya's performances give way to more criticisms, that's all.

Back to Blake. I just love everything about him. From his looks to his cool personality to the way he dresses to the tone of his voice to the way he performs. He is an idol in every sense and he has miraculously made me like Country music a little more.

On other Idol news, I listened to Elliott's new album and loved it. Wasn't too hot about "Wait for You", but the rest of the tracks were hot!!! "Movin'" On is at the top of my list!!! Gonna buy his album real soon! You can preview the tracks in the american idol official website.

Gina goes home... which means another day in paradise for Sanjaya Malakar

Gina Glocksen is out. I can't say I was surprised by this. Her peformance was really half-baked and lacked personality. The fans, myself included, got confused with what Gina really wanted to express. She can't go hot and cold like that per performance and go from rocker to diva each night. It's just bound to leave the fans cold.

Of course, I am pretty disappointed that she did leave. I felt she held a lot of promise, and she still had a lot to show. Between Gina and the skimpy-dressed Haley, I would have said goodbye to Haley any day. But hey, that's American Idol voting for you. Completely out of whack.

All this means just one thing: It's another day in paradise for our favorite guy: Sanjaya Malakar (please note the sarcasm that is coating each and every syllable of "our favorite guy"). This issue is becoming so huge that Constantine even placed a Yahoo! Answer question about it, and it goes like this:

"How will Sanjaya’s continued success on American Idol impact the show’s credibility? With all of the controversy surrounding Sanjaya’s survival week-to-week, is it too late for American Idol to regain its fans’ trust?"

Is it too late for AI to regain its fans' trust?

I don't think so. Could a lanky kid with poor vocals sabotage a high-rated show built on a 6-year foundation? If anything, AI should use all its experience to innovate and find a way to solve this issue. Perhaps a new way of voting is in order? Perhaps the judges should get the final say?

We can only ponder on the possible solutions to this plague.

1 Cool cat, 1 hip performance, and the "ho-hum" rest of them

Tony Bennett night was a night of great performances. I especially liked Blake's performance. He was 1 cool cat, singing and dancing to "Mack the Knife". Blake Lewis embodied "cool" in every sense - his tone, his moves, his look.



Chris Richardson made a comeback with his hip rendition of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and Randy Jackson himself said that he "came out with a vengeance".



I personally didn't like the rest. Melinda and Lakisha sang well but I felt that it wasn't unique enough. They're good belters that's for sure but each AI season has good belters so there's nothing to rave about there. I do have to give props to Melinda because as usual, she interpreted the lyrics flawlessly. Lakisha's sass came back, as Simon said, but I felt the band overpowered her performance.

Gina confuses me - she's supposed to be a rocker and now she's going towards becoming a belter. I think Gina should stick to what makes her stand out above the rest of this year's competitors. She could go tap her sentimental side but there is still a way to maintain her personality in my opinion. Take Garbage, for instance. Garbage's singer Shirley has slow, sentimental songs but the rocker in her still shines.

Haley and Phil are doomed. When Simon starts judging your legs, you're balancing on a thin thread. When Paula starts saying something bad about you, tsk tsk.

Sanjaya Malakar still had a non-energetic performance with his too-loose clothes and too-quiet voice. Simon's comment on Sanjaya was hilarious, saying he was "incredible". I don't get why Tony Bennett had such praise for Sanjaya. It's scary.

Sanjaya is getting very Cocky

Sanjaya is now suffering from what season 4 Scott Savol suffered from as well - a large amount of cockiness. The feeling of being invincible tends to get into people's heads. It's the feeling that they can sing as crappy as crap itself and still escape the bottom 3 - the feeling that even Simon Cowell's influential words cannot sway the voters.

This cockiness will be the downfall of Sanjaya. I absolutely felt like his comment about Simon being jealous of his hair, the way he smiles and grins even though the judges are speechless in disgust, shows that he is starting to love the power that he has over his fans. And I think (at least I hope) this will be his demise. Fans absolutely do not love cocky Idols. This, I think (and as I recall), is why Scott Savol got eliminated after he expressed his confidence in making it to the AI finals. And Scott Savol sings way better than Sanjaya.

Sanjaya, please do leave with your faux mohawk and your faux nice guy personality. Please, for the love of all who know what real good singing is.

What they Mean when they say Sanjaya's getting better

Here's what I think.

This is the American Idol talent meter:


There's "You are the singer to beat", then there's "Your vocals were spot on", followed by "It was good", and "It was aight" at the neutral side. Then there's "That was not good, dude", "second-rate bar performance", and "absolutely horrendous".

Finally, there's Sanjaya.

His first performance on stage was when he ironically bored us by singing a Stevie Wonder song with the lyrics "I don't wanna bore you". He followed this up with a performance that felt like a "ghastly talent show", with a voice as small as a mouse' and an oversized suit. Yes, Sanjaya fans, I acknowledge the fact that he never sings off-pitch. We got to give him some props for that. Here are the props: Sanjaya, you CAN sing... just make sure it's during family reunions, school recitals, those types of events.

Now, singing shouting the Kinks' "You Really Got Me", Paula and Randy felt he was having fun and felt it was his best performance yet. That just means that currently, he has finally reached the "absolutely horrendous" spot.


Bravo, Sanjaya. You really ARE getting better.

British Invasion Night at American Idol, and some very Strange, Creepy moments

It was British invasion Night at American Idol and I was extremely excited about it, because I really love 60's music (I am a Zombies, Searchers, Hollies, Classics, Applejacks, etc. fan). I was absolutely thrilled that 2 Zombies songs were covered, and were covered well.

For me, Blake stole the show with his ultra cool, suave rendition of "Time of the Season":



Stephanie Edwards lost her spark and doesn't seem sincere enough with the way she sings. Haley didn't sing very well but danced very well hehehe. I don't think Gina followed Lulu's suggestion of making the pitch higher, it seemed she sang the song better during the clip with Lulu... Phil Stacey's performance was also half-baked. Lakisha's "Diamonds are Forever" was hot, I dont know why Simon and co. didnt like it so much. Melinda was spot on with the way she interpreted her lyrics. Chris Richardson's was another great performance. His vocals was close to impeccable:



The creepiest moment had to be when Sanjaya tried to rock it out with "You Really got me Now". He was really just shouting his lyrics, his outfit was sloppy with the overly large blazer, it just didnt work. What made it even creepier was how Ashley on the audience was crying while he performed! Was that creepy or what???



Based on all these comments, I have no idea why Chris wound up in the bottom 2 and why Sanjaya was smiling and laughing sitting down comfortably in his seat, having avoided elimination once again.