Alright, results show: I haven't watched the episode yet; it just started and I have it on pause so I can make my predictions. I think the bottom three is going to be Anoop, Lil Rounds and Scott. Lil Rounds will go home. Anything else would officially shock me, but I love being shocked, so here's hoping.
We're still on the whole "year of their birth" thing, so Ryan makes a big deal about how old Simon is by showing a clip of Frankie Avalon singing in the year he was born. Then the stage opens, and Frankie Avalon himself comes out and sings. Simon looks completely surprised and amused. It's actually a really cute moment, and Frankie sounds great.
Enough of that, though; I want to find out who's going home! So let's get on with it. We've got 50 minutes of filler left before we get our answers.
The group sing, appropriately, is from the year Idol was born: 2001. They're singing Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head." Remember how I said last night that Allison always makes her performances look effortless? Yeah ... turns out dance music is her kryptonite. It just doesn't work for her at all. To be fair, it doesn't really work for everyone, and Matt just kind of looks like he's trying to poop. It's really bad, and I'm grateful when it's over.
The Ford commercial is next, and while I always find these embarrassing, this one is probably the coolest looking one I've seen. The theme is magic, and they shot it in an old Vaudeville theater. The director did a great job with the feel of it, and the fact that they were singing Britney Spears' "Circus" just made me laugh. All in all, it was actually enjoyable this week.
After the commercial, it's time to start finding out who's in the bottom three. Ryan has Adam, Kris, and Anoop stand up. Adam is obviously safe, so he immediately sits back down, leaving Kris and Anoop up there. One of them is in the bottom three, and unsurprisingly, it's Anoop, which means Kris is safe.
Tonight's random pop star performance is Flo-Rida, and I come to the realization that he's the guy on the radio who does the song that's like that other song from a long time ago. Also, I am old. This is also evidenced by the fact that I enjoy this performance because it makes sense to me -- unlike Lady Gaga from last week. She just baffles me. Also,
Dear Awesome Backup Singer Lady,
If you have to constantly tug down your skirt when you have a break in the song, it's probably too short. You are super talented at your job, but that doesn't mean I want to see your business. Pants: look into it.
Love, Kona
We come back and Ryan turns the mood lighting back on. He calls up Danny, who is safe (even though his song choice was bull). Next up is Matt, who, after a strong performance last night, is also safe. Ryan calls Scott up and tells him that he's the second contestant in the bottom three. I expect him to go to commercial, but instead he has Allison and Lil stand up. Ryan points out that Allison has been in the bottom three twice, while Lil never has. This week, it's the opposite, with Lil in the bottom three, and Allison sitting in the comfy seats.
Now it didn't take a genius to predict the bottom three, but I've got to say that I'm pretty impressed with myself for being 3 for 3 tonight. Now let's just see if I was right about who's going home.
After we find out who our bottom three is, Kellie Pickler comes out to perform. I haven't watched Pickler perform since she was on Idol, and she seems a lot more confident than she was on the show. She's super-cute and crazy-eyed, but I'm not terribly impressed with her performance. I do feel bad for her, though, since she'll probably always be seen as the poor man's Carrie Underwood.
After Kellie is done singing and Ryan sends her scampering off backstage with the promise of calamari, it's time to get down to business. Seacrest immediately shoots all of my theories to hell when he announces that Lil is safe. That leaves only Scott and Anoop, meaning that there's a 50/50 chance that tonight's results are going to piss me off.
Out of 34 million votes, Ryan informs us that only 30,000 separate the two, and the person with the lowest number of votes is Scott. As likable as Scott is, I agree with this decision and think it's time for him to go. With that said, he does turn in a better performance tonight than he did last night-- it's still not great though.
After his performance, Ryan asks Simon what the judges think, and he tells them that two of them want him to stay, but two of them think he should go. I'm pretty sure it's Simon and Randy against Kara and Paula here. Paula looks like she's about to break down, and even Simon seems to be having a bit of a hard time. When pushed to make a decision though, Simon tells him it's the end of the road.
Once again, I like Scott, but he just wasn't doing it for me anymore. What about you? Did America and the judges get it right, or was tonight's elimination a travesty?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-09-2009 @ 9:15AM
jollyroger said...
STAR IDOL
“Look at Denise; she’s got stage three herpes, a Siamese schizophrenic featus sister called Magmud, rubber bones and sports camel breath and toe. But she can belt out bridge over troubled water better than Jane Mc Donald.” “You’re through.”
I think you can class this lot as an actual sub genre of music. As long as the word sub is 17 times larger than the word genre with the word music being separated by at least all the words ever wrote in any language since time began.
...more at lifestyleguides.blogspot.com
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4-09-2009 @ 6:07AM
Lisa said...
They got it right although admittedly it made me a little sad...sad because Scott is just a very sweet person and well it's like watching someone kick a puppy, it hurts a little. He took it well and it was time. I was not happy with how Anoop reacted throughout the thing. Scott said words to the effect of 'it's me' to Anoop prior to the final pronouncement and seemed like he'd like to reach out to Anoop - a nice guy would have stood with his arm around Scott but nope -- me don't like Anoop so much anymore. He is an egotistical spoiled only child, got that from his childhood package the other night. Go home Anoop, your 15 minutes are up. Don't get me wrong, Scott needed to go but neither he nor Anoop were/are destined for final 5 so a little brotherly caring would have gone a long way.
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4-10-2009 @ 9:36AM
Michael said...
Spot on comments Lisa. I'm WAY over Anoop for many of the same reasons you stated. He's much like Scott in that he's reached his plateau already and won't ever be better than we've seen him in weeks past. If anything, Scott is one up on him because I think he's actually done a better job performing the last week or two than Anoop has. Scott's attitude is simply amazing and I loved your comment about it seeming like they were "kicking a puppy". That's exactly what it felt like when I realized he was going home.
4-09-2009 @ 7:36AM
Lucy said...
I think that Lil should have been the one to go. Although Scott wasn't the best, when he sang with his piano, he sang from his heart and he is a great inspiration. I wish he could have stayed around another week or two.
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4-09-2009 @ 7:19AM
freedom55 said...
Is it just me or is this "Judges Save" thing terribly painfull. Now they are making the contestants beg? Get rid of this! Here is THE SOLUTION! Find the bottom two every week from the votes, and then let the judges choose which one to go home from those two.
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4-09-2009 @ 7:22AM
stan lee said...
but then the judges essentially take the vote from the people. now it is painful to watch but does not strip the final say from the viewers.
4-09-2009 @ 10:48AM
julzzev said...
You probably would think differently about the save if it had been around the week everyone assumed that Chris Daughtry was safe and didn't vote for him. That is what the save is for. It's for the time America screws up big time. It's for that time when everyone's jaws drop and Paula practically passes out when the person leaving is announced. That is what the save is for, and nothing else.
4-09-2009 @ 10:59AM
Julzz said...
The reason that the "Save" was created was for the night that America really screws up. It's for the night that everyone assumes that Chris Daughtry is going to be safe, so no one votes for him. It's for that moment when they announce who is leaving and you hear the gasp from the audience, everyone's jaws drop, and Paula looks like she's going to pass out. To use it for any other reason is just a waste. They got it right last night...nice guy, sings OK, but not a real contender...not worth saving.
4-09-2009 @ 11:55AM
Mike McNamara said...
People keep saying "You'd feel differently..." re: Daughtery, but forgetting that even if this particular save rule was around, it wouldn't have saved him.
4-09-2009 @ 7:20AM
stan lee said...
they got it right tonight. anoop will follow shortly. if lil doesn't get it going she will leave soon also. looks like the four guys will be in the final four unless something goes real wrong just because they seem to be vocally consistant. adam and danny and matt will probably be there at the end. danny needs to really step it up to win, same with matt. adam has the cutie looks and does perform well each week, stage presence does it for him.
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4-09-2009 @ 7:38AM
Lucy said...
I never thought of that but that would be a great way to do it.
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4-09-2009 @ 7:47AM
La-Di-Dah said...
No, people, you are too kind. Scott's singing was not a lot of people's cup of tea (me included). The best he ever did (for me) was Martina's "Wild Angel's," which everyone was meh about, so you know what I am saying. I do not think he's "inspirational" for "the world" as Paula said. Puh-lease. And I never got a "singer-songwriter" vibe from him like Kira's always meaning to pass off. The boy was half-decent at singing, was nice if hammy, but should have been home a while ago, piano or no piano.
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4-09-2009 @ 8:04AM
Jason said...
Scott's biggest problem was he never sang anything modern enough to survive. He was stuck in Gramma's Musicland, a place where John Denver is mayor and Karen Carpenter hands out Klondike bars, and there is a big mural of Puff the Magic Dragon, along with Peter, Paul, and Mary painted on the side of the courthouse in the square, and Zippity Doo Dah is blaring over loud speakers while Dan Fogelberg rides by on a bicycle built for two. Plus, to be a great singer you have to have more than one emotion come through in your music, and I never heard anything more than "It's a beautiful day" come from his lips. Great singers need a tinge of angst to pepper their voices; it shows dynamics. Goodbye, Scott. Watch out for Elton John; he's the one still standing in the doorway you're trying to walk through.
4-10-2009 @ 9:40AM
Michael said...
Epic comments Jason. Just great stuff!
4-09-2009 @ 8:19AM
Jimmy said...
Random thoughts:
1. America got it right -- for the second week in a row! Thank goodness, because now the judges' pandering can stop. (I'm talking to you, Paula.)
2. If song choice is so critical, who the hell chose the "La-la-la, la-la-la-la-la" song for the group performance? Also, if they're lip-synching, shouldn't the backing track be better? The group songs are always bad, but this may be the worst one ever.
3. I love Simon, but who was he kidding when he said they might have used the Judges' Save last night? None of those three has a chance of topping Adam, Kris or Allison.
That is all.
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4-09-2009 @ 8:23AM
vernie said...
Scott has mediocre vocals and that limits him but some of you should knock it off with the mean spirited comments. He overcame a significant challenge in his life to learn how to play the piano and pursue a dream. And he does have a helluva lot more class than Anoop who is totally full of himself (as is Danny). It was time for Scott to go but he is a class act.
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4-09-2009 @ 8:43AM
Jessica said...
Oh please, Just because he's blind doesn't mean he should have been treated so delicately! He should have been of WEEKS ago! He's a Blah singer and probably wouldn't have made it to the top 12 if it wasn't for his disability! And before you get all huffy, my father has a disability, and I've never seen anyone call him an "Inspiration to the world." grr....
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4-10-2009 @ 1:46PM
Gary L said...
His inspiration has nothing to do whatsoever with just his blindness. He took a chance and pursued his dream with the odds stacked against him. He was a class act and he never himself used his blindness as a means of sympathy votes. He was talented enough to have a niche in the music business. Even if some think some of the old school sound is dead. If they are true to themselves or the music of today they would see how much the past influences the present. I am not saying Scott should have stayed but he was as talented as many I have seen in seasons past and he deserved to be on this show. These theme nights are a slippery slope to overcome. Scott is a guy who has a niche and anything outside of that is just not where he excels. Will he get a recording contract as a result of this show? That is doubtful. Is he as talented as some of the hacks in the business making millions? In my opinion he is. Still the way the music execs work has little to do with overall talent many times and has everything to do with whether they can sell an image. Scott is a simpleton in every sense of the word. I say that with respect. He is not easy to sell. His talent is plenty good enough. Recording studios do great magic for singers and people tend to not mind that their stars aren't as good in live performances once they love what they hear on the radio. I see it all the time with many of my favorite country artist. Charisma and stage presence with just average singing talent many times sells out concerts. Recording studio magic sells platinum selling CD's.
With all that said I am not saying there is no talent in the music industry but I am saying don't assume everyone is as good live as they sound on the radio. Some artist are good enough to get through concerts and with a bit of packaging and studio magic they are stars and super stars. Scott is as good as some that have made it in the past. Scott however would not make it unless he was an upper 3% singer because of his image. That sucks but from my perspective that is a fact. If he could have worn shades and gave people the cool factor ala Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Ronnie Milsap maybe image would have gotten him further in the contest. I know he is not as blind as those I mentioned but on the piano shades may have helped him quite a bit.
4-09-2009 @ 9:25AM
jag said...
Hopefully Anoop or Lil Rounds will be gone next week. They will have only one more week after next week to use the save. I wonder if they will use it in the final week just to try it out. They don't want to lose Adam, Danny or Allison early and would use it on them. I wonder if they would use it on Kris.
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4-09-2009 @ 9:30AM
jag said...
Instead of the last place person singing the song from the night the same way, they should be allowed to change it up or sing another song so they can at least improve on the previous night's performance. Singing it the same way doesn't do anything towards improving it.
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