it's not the end; it's the beginning...

They tell us this week is the end of the semi-finals.  By Wednesday night we will have 12 still standing on stage, preparing to begin the true competition.  I'm still holding out hope for a twist which will allow us to keep the top 12, not just the top six guys and top six women, but I'm not holding my breath. 

Monday the men take the stage.  And two will be sent packing.

Who deserves to stay?  Who should leave?

Bo Bice will stay.  He has evolved the furthest the fastest, going from split-decision selection to the judges' favorite.  And a fan favorite.  Are you a Bo fan?  Then you're a member of the Bice Squad.  Or a Bo Peep.  And the Bo Peeps are a determined group.

Mario Vazquez will remain.  He's got Justin's look and style.  And that look carried Justin to the finale on the strength of young girls with strong dialing hands.  I'm waiting for the evening that he stands and delivers a strong vocal performance without the reliance on show.  But he will continue.

Anwar Robinson will stick around.  He's got the backing of the NEA, the PTA, teachers and middle schoolers all across the country.  Plus he's just too handsome not to.  His performances thus far have been great, but I still think he's holding back, waiting for that one night when he lets it all go.  And when that happens, panties all across the country are gonna be flying.

Anthony Fedorov will stay.  The comparisons to Clay Aiken will continue, and Claymates everywhere will insist there is no similarity, but will be hitting redial in record numbers.  Certainly the story of his childhood is compelling, but he can only ride that so far before he's going to have to appeal to the voters with his vocal chords instead of his interviews.

These four are locks, which begs the question:  Which two will join them?

Travis Tucker rebounded from a horribly boring performance to hang in there another week.  Vocally, his was not the best, even compared to the dismissed Joe Murena, but when Simon remarked that Travis is a born showman, he was right.  But will that showmanship be enough to carry him past vocally-superior performers.  The fact that he was left standing last Wednesday alongside David and Joe, indicates that he might have been the third-lowest vote getter.  I think he was.  And I think he's doomed.

Nikko Smith.  I have his dad's rookie card.  It's encased in a plastic sleeve in my safe deposit box.  But I digress.  Nikko has turned in two solid, if somewhat forgettable, performances.  He needs to keep the hat off, put on a pair of jeans and let it all go this week.  With this group of rockers and showmen, a ballad can either be a nice break or a snoozer.  But, whatever he chooses, he really needs to make it memorable, because he's being overshadowed by this group.

Constantine Maroulis.  No screaming, Constantine.  Please.  You have the good fortune to have such unwavering support among your female fans, who will vote for you regardless.  Your misfortune is that many of your male fans have shifted their allegience to the better rock vocalist.  Bo has proven he has pure vocal ability, and Constantine has proven he has stage presence, but his vocals have been somewhat less.  He needs to select a song which will showcase his voice to prove to the doubters that he's more than a rocker on nickel-beer night.

And Scott Savol.  I always seem to leave Scott for last.  I am a huge Scott fan.  I adore his voice, and I'm a sucker for the unconventional longshot.  I think Scott, like Anwar, is sandbagging.  Despite what Simon and Paula said last week, I think Randy is right that Scott's performances have not lived up to his audition promise.  I want to see him in a dark suit.  Or in jeans and a long tee, ala Ruben.  And I want him to drown out the backup singers and the band.  Both of his performances thus far have been dominated by them.  I want to hear a glory note.  I doubt that panties will be flying when he decides to sing his lights out, but many of his doubters may just sit up and take notice.  After all, when they're on the radio, it don't matter what they look like.

I'm taking a deep breath.  I'm eenie, meenie, minee, moeing. 

Who will be leaving?  Travis and Nikko.

 

it's blinkie day...

And, of course, this means more great blinkies by Angel.  These are her original creations, made just for us, so please right click/save to your computer and stop by Angel's Creations to say thanks!  (The link is in the logo.)

     

     

     

     

     

* My apologies, but I seem to have lost Scott somewhere.  I'll try to find him.  But in the meantime, you may borrow mine:  

 

memories and masterpieces...

There has been so much buzz online since Monday's electrifying performance by Bo Bice.  And there has been equal amount of buzz about fairness, airtime equality leading up to the semi-finals and discrimination by the producers against the contestants who remain hidden in the closet until the episode immediately preceding the beginning of live competition.

Bo didn't get the amount of airtime that Constantine, Scott or Mario received.  And yet, with two dynamic performances, especially Monday's, he has not only placed himself solidly in the final 12, but, rightfully, is one of the favorites to make it through to May.

The producers didn't manufacture that.  Bo Bice did it himself. 

I've watched Bo's performance many times since Monday.  It just refuses to get stale.  I consider it one of the best five musical moments in Idol history.  Here it is if you would like to see it.  (If you're on dial-up, you might want to right click/save target and save it to your own computer.  It will be a long download, but it will play perfectly for you and, if you're a Bo fan, it's worth keeping.)  Whipping Post.

Naturally, if I'm trying to decide if that performance falls into my personal top five, I had to reflect upon the five that were my favorites until now.  It's always fun to remember back to seasons past, the contestants I loved, the ones who made me cringe and the ones I wanted to just punch.  Everyone has favorite moments.  Here are mine, with the mp3 files attached.

From season one, while I had enjoyed Kelly Clarkson, I didn't love her until Big Band Night when she took on Stuff Like That There and left me with a mouth gaping wide open in awe of her magic.  And, of course, Tamyra Gray stopped the audience, the judges and most of America when she tackled Burt Bacharach's A House is Not a Home.

Season two was my favorite competition, and it is hard to choose one particular moment.  Two Clay Aiken performances immediately come to mind, though.  Probably the single most awesome Idol performance for me was during Bee Gee's Night when Clay performed To Love Somebody.  It would be nearly impossible for any contestant at any time to match that.  If I had to choose the second moment, it would be Clay's final one, after a dreary finale, when he and the choir rejuvenated Bridge Over Troubled Water.

And from season three, who else?  Fantasia Barrino singing Summertime.  Holy movie tunes, Batman.  Did anyone doubt this woman's vocal chops after that one?

Those are my favorite Idol memories.  What are yours?

 

let's twist again like we did last year...

Gratitude goes to the producers who abbreviated the dreaded eliminations, ditched the songs and just got to the [broken] heart of the matter.  No big surprises in last night's results show.  No one with any sense believed that Joe, Aloha and Celena were bound for the finals.  And David proved Monday that the promise he showed in the audition round was not going to pan out when the stage was his.

The softened and shortened show was a blessing too for the kids, all of whom, except Joe, took the bad news gracefully.  Joe just had to play the Melinda card, blaming, again, lack of airtime leading up to the semis.  Hey Joe.  Grow up.  You had about as much airtime as Bo and Jessica, but, unlike them, you didn't grab your chance to make us want to call for you.  You had two chances.  You proved nothing to us except for the fact that you sound like Cher.  Stop whining.  The fault was yours.

Looks as though Janay is this year's Camile, riding her way through the semi-finals on the strength of a legion of young fans who think she's pretty.  But like John Stevens last year, she is not ready for this level of competition.  The child looks like a deer caught in the headlights.  It is, and will continue to be, painful to watch her struggle on stage, only to be torn to shreds by Randy and Simon and damned with Paula's faint praise. 

Oh the price of being pretty.

My initial fears of this gender equity quota system have been realized.  We have remaining, eight men, all of whom deserve to continue.  We have eight women, only four of which should.  If we have to watch two very talented guys leave while less-talented girls remain, it will not only be heartbreaking, but unfair.  And all in the name of balance?

I don't recall a bombastic revolt last season when the women outnumbered the men 8-4.  And only one of the four men even had a realistic shot of making the finale.  I understand that the producers were hoping for a better gender balance to appeal to the wider audience, but at the expense of talent?

Surely, if the producers can listen to the fans, read the message boards and get it through their heads that last week's bloodbath was universally abhorred and change the format accordingly, they can recognize this potential travesty and right the wrong before the wrong is even committed.

Idol loves its twists.  How about a twist next week.  Eight sing Monday.  Eight sing Tuesday.  And the voters vote Tuesday for their favorite of the sweet sixteen.  We can even desegregate them at this point, because come finals time, they're going to be thrown from their box anyway.

Eschewing the quota system at this point would assure the voters that the best 12 (or the most popular, as the case may be) will be entertaining us through May.  That would be a nice change to Idol too.  Twelve finalists, all of whom have a realistic chance. 

Now that's what I call a twist.

the results show...

Can you hear me now?

Is it possible?  Is it conceivable?  Is it?  Have the Idol producers listened?  Have they heard? 

Last week's outrage over the one-hour bloodfest that was the results show seems to have hit its target.  What was planned as another one-hour sacrifice has been trimmed now to one-half hour, so, hopefully we will be spared the flashbacks, the retrospectives, the idiotic lining up of the condemned only to kill the bystander.  And perhaps they'll simply say so long to the ejected and dejected, rather than forcing them to sing again the song that sank them.

Ah shucks.  Just when I was starting to like the sight of blood and guts.

Maybe this week, we'll get something a bit more compassionate in the way of contestant eliminations.  How about "You're Stupid too!"  "Your mama eats worms!" or the ever-popular "You're ugly!"

early observations (caution: spoilers)...

Halfway through the women's show, and it's obvious the men have checkmated, slam dunked and all of the other sports cliches you can think of.  Did somebody yell "theme night" and not warn us?  It's obviously country or ballad night and someone has stolen the songbook. 

Here are the early rankings, without benefit of watching the show again (which, I will not want to do).  As always, from worst to first.

Janay.  You looked your age.  And your hair was pretty.  And I'll leave it at that.

Aloha.  What a boring mess that was.  I kept hoping for the background singers to become even louder.  You're supposed to improve week after week.  Not get worse.

Celena.  You have feet.  Feet are there for more than just holding up your ankles.  Two weeks and the only movement we've seen from yours is walking to and from the stage.  And, if you're around next week, ask someone else to choose a song. 

Vonzell.  Ouch.  What is the problem with the song book?  You took a chance, but you were out of tune more than you were on tune. 

Mikalah.  I really do not understand the judges' praise for your out of tune, flat performance. At least you dropped the Fran Drescher imitating Barbra Streisand schtick.  But I'm am just not getting you.

Lindsey.  It's country night?  You have feet too.  Taking one step while swaying left of center and right of center does not a performance make, unless the song is knock-out great.  Unfortunately you spent most of your song in the lower register, and when you're in that register, no one can hear you. 

Carrie.  Carrie Underwood does Janis Joplin?  What?  Am I in an alternative universe?

Amanda.  Gloria Estefan week was last year.  I give you credit for trying that song.  The lyrics are challenging, but it was more show than singing.  Aren't there any songs in the book that haven't already been performed?

Nadia.  Nadia does Wings?  My Love does not exactly contain the most challenging lyrics ever written.  "Whoa" is not a lyric.  Where is the real songbook? 

Jessica!  Jessica recycles a country song from last season, reworks it and, except for a poorly held ending note-- the one that Diana held halfway into the Simpsons last season -- delivers the only really decent performance of the night.  But I still hate that song.

Whew.  I'm glad that's over.

Who should go:  Janay (please!!) and Aloha.
Who will go:     Janay (please!!!) and Aloha.

women's semi-final (round two)...

Okay ladies, top that!

The women are going to have a challenge to match the quality of last night's men's semi-final.  And it's strange, but with this new gender segregation, I find myself concentrating on the men's competition and giving the women barely an afterthought.  It's going to be interesting to discover my own opinions once we blend them, week after next.

Nevertheless, tonight the women take the stage.  And my hope for them is pretty much the same as I had for the guys.  Few, if any, ballads.  No Whitney.  No Mariah.  No Celine.  No Stevie Wonder. And no bossing around the audience.  Melinda sang Celine.  Sarah yelled at the people.  Both are gone.  Defense rests.

It's hard to imagine at this point that the women could outshine the guys, but, of course, the Dawg Pound will be there to help with backup vocals.  Carrie and Nadia just have to show up to continue.  Mikalah is going to advance just on the strength of her die-hard (and apparently deaf) fans.  And Vonzell would have to pull a Carmen to leave.  The others are skating on thin ice.

Celena, Jessica and Aloha are still suffering from the no-airtime syndrome, from here on referred to as the Melinda Malady, but with strong performances, will no longer have that excuse.  Janay must recover from last week's debacle of a performance, and she has payback the size of the national debt to her fans, the ones who kept her in the competition.  Lindsey needs to project.  It's hard to form an attachment to someone we can't hear.  And Amanda.  One more ballad from Amanda could be her last.

With this group it is so tough to make a pre-performance predition, but you know I'm going to anyway.  I just won't put down any money.

We're going to bid farewell to Amanda and Aloha, unless Janay lets the nerves get the better of her.