Thursday, March 27, 2008

American Idol - Elimination Night - the top nine revealed

John Farnham's manager Glenn Wheatley must be ruing the day he got jailed for tax evasion as his butt is currently stuck in Beechworth Correctional Centre, while his number one client has been plugged on the highest rating show in the USA two nights in a row.

You cannot buy this sort of publicity. Will John Farnham come out of retirement again for a very late crack at the lucrative American market?

It was elimination night and all contestants were looking suitably nervous, or maybe it was because they were going to have to sing and dance to another cheesy number.

These numbers is like watching the contestants go through a weekly humiliation, something I find vaguely amusing.

Tonight's group number was to "Right Back Where We Started From" and I must confess Brooke White's kooky dance style actually suited the song.

I just realised tonight how skinny Brooke is, she really needs to eat a few burgers.

One person who apparently is stopping eating burgers is Carly Smithson who denied the pregnancy rumours tonight. She did say the problem last night was she had a problem with Spanks. That and the toilet discussion with Ryan last night I thought she was telling millions of impressionable young girls that she had taken a heap of laxatives to help her lose weight. Just as my jaw hit the ground I realised that Spanks was a corset type undergarment.

The special guest tonight was a previous American Idol contestant Kimberley Locke. I had never heard of her, but I was concerned that everytime she hit a high note her "chest" was going to come bursting out of tight dress.

I was not a fan of her singing but I was impressed she managed to spruik the new album plus her restaurant Croton Creek in her 5 minute spot.

The bottom three were Chikezie, Syesha Mercado, and Jason Castro.

This means Kristy-Lee Cook will be around for another two weeks, as she should perform strongly with Dolly Parton mentoring. Will everyone have to pick Dolly songs or will it just be country week. Will Michael Johns try to sing both parts of the iconic "Islands In The Stream"?

None of the bottom three was a surprise - Chikezie I like, but the song he sang was a complete dog.

Syesha I don't think is connecting with the audience, and that stupid baby laugh she does which she thinks is a great party trick, really reminds me of Chucky out of Child's Play.

And Jason Castro has been plateauing over the last few weeks, and has become a bit boring. He was the first of the three to be told to go back to the sofas.

However I was sad when I heard Cheesy Chikezie had been eliminated, as the previous two weeks I had enjoyed his performances.

But as Simon Cowell said to the bottom three "Don't underestimate the audience".

7 comments:

Sue B said...

Frankly, I was shocked that Sayesha was in the bottome three and not Ramiele (I don't see the attraction; cute but not a very good singing voice). Do you see how shocked Kristy Lee looked? I wonder if the anti-Idol fans are now voting for her, the way they did with Sanjaya last year?

I was even more shocked that Jason was in the bottom three. Ramiele and Kristy Lee were worse, and I thought Carly was annoying. Jason looked suitably upset (though gracious, and funny), and Sayesah and Chakieze were just laughing about it.

Did you see how THIS time Ryan said that the contestants were back on the couch for the phone interviews and Kimberly Locke's (yawn) song? That's just to cover up that they pre-tape, but whatever.

Jason better watch his back, and I plan to vote for him, just b/c he is so much better than others. He does need to step it up several notches, though, despite his teeny bopper fans, who obviously were not voting for him Tuesday night.

My favorites continue to be David Cook (BOOYAH!) and Michael Johns. I think David C will make it to the top three, and when we get to the top five, I will be voting for him, so as not to have him end up like Chris Daughtry (not that it hurt him ONE BIT).

And yes, Kristy might be fun with Dolly Parton night, but Chizeke would have been hysterical and Ramiele will not.

Oh, well. Weird season so far.

Sue B said...

I just thought you might be interested in TVGuide's power rankings, per writer response:

POLL: The Top Nine: Who's Your Idol Now?
Of the remaining wannabes, who is your current pick to win 'American Idol'?
Poll Results: The Top Nine: Who's Your Idol Now?

Brooke White: (10.3%) 10%
Carly Smithson: (5.7%) 5%
David Archuleta: (15.7%) 15%
David Cook: (50.7%) 50%
Jason Castro : (4.4%) 4%
Kristy Lee Cook : (1.2%) 1%
Michael Johns : (10.8%) 10%
Ramiele Malubay : (0.4%) 0%
Syesha Mercado : (0.7%)0%

I totally agree (except that anyone voted for Kristy Lee Cook, LOL). David C (my man) is now the front runner. I just hope he hasn't peaked too soon!!! Jason has pretty much fallen off the charts (he better step it up), and David Archuleta keeps decreasing in popularity (his dad is part of the problem; I honestly do not believe David knew that song, especially b/c he admitted he didn't know any Beatles songs).

Reality Raver said...

The power guide looks pretty favourable for David Cook. Do these rankings change weekly?

I did notice that Ryan said they were back on the couch because of the live phone in.

I presume they precord this section so they can edit in the best answers for the show.

I wasn't so shocked about Jason I am finding him a little bit the same same.

Carly denying the pregnancy rumour was mildly amusing.

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Sue B said...

I thought you might find this of interest (from ew.com:)

Chris Cornell defends 'Idol' contender David Cook

Mar 27, 2008, 10:59 PM | by Shirley Halperin

Categories: American Idol, Music, Music Biz

Cornelloncook_l_2

David Cook's rousing performance of "Billie Jean" on Tuesday night's American Idol may have brought him to the front of the season 7 pack, so why are Chris Cornell fans furious? Well, it was Cornell's version of the song, included on his 2007 solo album Carry On, that Cook covered, and though Ryan Seacrest identified it as such in his introduction, the judges went on to praise Cook for his originality in rearranging the Michael Jackson classic. But here's the million dollar question: What did Cornell himself think of it? EW.com tracked him down and asked him.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Were you told ahead of time that an Idol contestant was doing your version of "Billie Jean"?

CHRIS CORNELL: No. I had no idea. On my flight back from touring in South Africa, I started receiving messages from my fansite moderator and management [saying] that fans were furious about some American Idol guy who covered my version of "Billie Jean." It appears the judges had no idea that it was my arrangement and were giving David Cook praise about how brilliant he was in performing the song that way. My fans are very protective and felt David should have volunteered the info [at that point]. Even though he did cover it well, and it was brave of him to try and pull it off.

Were you flattered by the performance?

Very much. It was clear to me [that] he was a big fan as he followed my arrangement down to the T, including the most subtle vocal nuances. I think he did a great job at pulling it off.

Can you tell us a bit about how this cover came to be?

It was a complete reinvention of a song that no one thought would work until they saw me play it in Stockholm acoustically. It received such an enormous reaction that it prompted me to do a studio recording. It ended up on my second solo album, Carry On.

In general, do you find anything disingenuous about Idol contestants doing covers of covers?

This song is a special case, but in general, I don't think it should be an issue to cover a cover, as long as it's clear who the creator and/or interpretor of that piece is. I think David's performance was great and I want to thank all my fans for their dedication!

This is very generous of Chris Cornell, a brilliant vocalist, and kudos to David Cook for finding music like this and having the talent to do it justice.

Reality Raver said...

Thanks Soobee.

If Idol contestants are doing obscure covers of songs, I think it is fine, I am sure Chris Cornell profile is sky rocketing worldwide because of it.

I have never heard of him, but it would be interesting what sort of jump he has had in downloads from itunes because of the exposure.

Sue B said...

Chris Cornell was the lead singer of Soundgarden (one of the Seattle 90s bands, like Nirvana and Alice in Chains), and is the lead singer of Audioslave (and this was from his solo release). Perhaps he should have been notified in advance by David Cook, BUT

--it is getting Cornell world-wide exposure and lots of downloads (acc'd to the TV Guide and EW.com bloggers), and

--David Cook never pretended it was an original interpretation.

Blake Lewis tended to do that last year (e.g., the reworking of Bon Jovi's You Give Love a Bad Name), but as long as you give an artist credit, and Ryan did credit Cornell, what's the harm? This is called trying to bring down a front runner, and it's backfiring.