My expectation of a LaToya/Fantasia/Diana final three has bitten the dust. It's been Tamyra-ed. It's been Trenyce-ed. And Jennifer-ed. Next season we'll be saying it was LaToya-ed. Instead we have a Fantasia/Diana/Jasmine showdown. It won't be as much fun. Or as fair. Or equal as it should have been, but that's the game.
Next week we have Clive Davis as the guest judge. Okay, now I can live with that. Davis -- the founder of Whitney Houston -- should bolster Simon with honest evaluations of performance. (Although Donna Summer did a great job during her stint at the table. It was good to get a real performer's perspective.) I really hope we are not subjected to any more lectures on voting for talent (as the camera pans to the sofa for a John Stevens close-up of Jasmine). But I really hope the anti-judge sentiment goes out the window at this stage of the competition. Perhaps the judges can crucify all three ladies. That should negate any lashback voting.
Apparently the format is much the same as last year's final three show. Three songs each. The judges choose one, Davis picks one, and the girls select their own third. [Gee, I wonder what Paula will choose for whom. Last year she gave Clay Mack the Knife, the ultimate lounge song, so that Clay could "prove he was more than a lounge singer" or something to that effect. Maybe she'll give Jasmine Tiny Bubbles so that she can show she's more than just a Hawaiian girl.]
To say that I'm disappointed about the final three show would be an understatement. This has been a strange season. I was looking forward to next week, because I was anticipating -- finally -- an episode where I could watch expecting great performances from all three contestants. All season I have watched expecting at least one wretched performance, probably more. And sure enough, there was at least one, usually more. There hasn't been a single episode where that hasn't been the case. In the early rounds there was [sorry, another flashback -- arrgghhh] Leah. Then there was John Stevens. Then Matt. And Camile. And John Stevens. Of course, JPL. Then John Stevens. Then, just as the lesser talent has been dismissed, Jasmine, who, though I never put her on the same level as Camile or JPL, has failed to do anything for me since her first performance of Inseparable, decides to have a complete vocal meltdown at the same time that Diana has decided to break out of the Barbie mold and come alive.
But at least I would have the final three. I have never dreaded a LaToya performance or a Fantasia number. And now I even look forward to Diana. So it's gonna be a great show! Right? Wrong. I'm gonna cringe (again) for Jasmine. I'm going to expect the worse and hope for the best. I really don't want to see her cry again, but I have this gnawing feeling that her next performances might make this week's disaster seem grammy-worthy. I hope not, but she's got way more than a hill to climb here. And with the releasing of the LaToya voters, who no doubt will be dialing fools and out for blood, it's gonna take more than the five-phoned Hawaiian troops to save her again.
I don't need no stupid psychic to predict our final two. [By the way, what was up with that stupid space filler?] Fantasia and Diana should give us a great show.
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