March 1: The Big Day May Be Tonight
American Idol 6, March 1: The Big Day May Be Tonight by Jenn Brasler -- 03/02/2007 Sanjaya didn’t impress many people with his rendition of “Steppin’ Out” this week. Will the voters decide they want him to step out? Or will this be his lucky day? The votes have been cast, and it’s time to say sayonara to four more singers. Ryan makes his way down the long line of singers, then tells us we’re on our way to setting the top 12. Kellie Pickler is around here somewhere (though Ryan can’t seem to find her), and I have to admit, I can’t wait to hear what she has to say. Perhaps we’ll get another embarrassing sound bite from her? Ryan gives us a recap of the past two nights of performances. The guys were much better than last week, namely Chris Sligh and Phil Stacey. Chris Richardson pretended to be Blake Lewis. Sundance Head “went soulful” (and falsetto) while Nick Pedro tried but failed to give people “Fever.” Blake brought the beat box back and A.J. Tabaldo was the first of two singers to do “Feelin’ Good.” Sanjaya Malakar, however, made us all want to leave the room with “Stepping Out.” Brandon Rogers annoyed Simon with his birthday wishes to his father. But Simon likes puppies! Jared Cotter was… there. Last night, the ladies took their turn and many were compared to how they did the week before. Gina Glocksen’s “Alone” wasn’t edgy enough for Simon. Lakisha Jones’ clothes were not to Simon’s tastes. Leslie Hunt scatted on “Feelin’ Good” and Jordin Sparks took on Christina Aguilera with “Reflection.” Stephanie Edwards tried her hand at “Dangerously in Love” and Alaina Alexander warbled “Not Ready to Make Nice.” Antonella Barba tried to take the focus off of her photos with “Because You Loved Me,” but no one really loved it. Sabrina Sloan and Haley Scarnato both sang Whitney Houston (“All the Man That I Need” and “Queen of the Night,” respectively) with various degrees of success. Most agree that Melinda Doolittle’s “My Funny Valentine” was the highlight of the night. Before the results, we get the top 20 singing “Joy to the World.” Everyone gets a little moment of being highlighted, but it’s a little frantic. I don’t think I like the group numbers with so many people. They look like they’re having fun, though. The guys are up on the chopping block first. Ryan asks if it’s any easier this time around. Of course not! Ryan is sure Chris Richardson feels good, but he doesn’t. Ryan starts with Phil, who’s safe. Chris Sligh is awesome, so he’s safe, too. He didn’t even look nervous. Sundance, however, is nervous, but there’s no need - he’s sticking around. Blake is ready for the news, which is, “Sit down.” Jared is the last guy left in the row, and Ryan tells him to join him on stage. That’s not good. Except it is, because Jared is safe. Nick is told to stand, then immediately told that he’s heading home. I think he saw it coming because he accepts the news very well. Randy thinks that Nick should stick with his genre, and all of the singers should be proud for making it this far. Simon says that Nick didn’t have much charisma and didn’t stand out, despite his good voice. Paula reminds us that Nick left in Hollywood last year, and she’s glad he kept going this season. Nick sings us out with “Fever,” sounding pretty good. There goes my eye candy! He slaps hands with all the guys as he sings. Nick forgets the words towards the end and laughs at himself. When the song is over, he thanks everyone. Sundance is crying! Dude. Next the girls face their verdicts. Jordin is nervous but good. She woke up and thought, “I’m so excited… wait, never mind.” Hee. She doesn’t want to have to say goodbye to anyone. Stephanie is the first to hear the news. She’s safe and relieved. Gina looks nervous but gets to live to sing another day. Sabrina gets to sit back down, and Melinda shouldn’t even have to stand up. That leaves Alaina in the row, and Ryan quickly tells her she’s heading home. Alaina also seems to have seen this coming and says she’s okay. She’s just happy to have had this experience. Alaina confirms that this is harder than she thought, then tells the others to sing their butts off. She’s crying, unsurprisingly. She attempts to sing us out with “Not Ready to Make Nice” but can’t quite get her voice, so the backup singers take over while the other girls hug Alaina. Okay, that’s depressing. At least she gets to sing, “I sleep like a baby / With no regrets.” Her family looks really ticked. Paula tells Alaina that the other singers obviously love her. The sound goes out for a minute, but I’m sure she didn’t say anything earth-shattering. Ryan gives us another trivia question. Whatever. To help us take a break from the results, Kellie Picker is here. Her hair looks ridiculous. She says she misses everyone and is glad to be back. She advises the singers to have fun and be themselves. Kellie is getting ready to go on tour with Brad Paisley in April. Ryan teases her about eating sushi and she talks about spider sushi. Shhh, Kellie. She sings “I Wonder,” a song she co-wrote. It’s a sad song about her mother, and she sounds very nice. She barely gets through it without crying (and honestly, so do I). Time for more eliminations! Back to the four remaining guys. Chris Richardson is safe again. Brandon can’t even make eye contact with Ryan, but he gets to stay. This just leaves Sanjaya and A.J., neither of whom did a spectacular job on Tuesday. But America has chosen A.J. to leave the competition. Sanjaya looks really surprised at that; he was convinced tonight would be his last. Paula tells A.J. this is a singing competition but she doesn’t think tonight reflects that. She wants A.J. to keep following his heart. Randy isn’t sure this was the right decision. Simon doesn’t get to say anything. A.J. sings “Feelin’ Good,” and he still sounds better than Sanjaya. Sundance is crying again, as is Melinda. At the end, the guys all hug A.J. goodbye. We have one elimination left, and it’s back to the girls. We’re running out of time and no one believes Lakisha could go home tonight, so Ryan quickly tells her to sit. Haley is safe, too. Shoot, I wanted to get both predictions right tonight. Ryan tells Antonella, Leslie, and Jordin to all join him at center stage. Ryan starts with Antonella, who is safe. Crap. Leslie and Jordin are both scared. Gina is crying. To the surprise of probably no one, Leslie is heading home tonight. Jordin starts crying and hugs her. Ryan says that the right people aren’t necessarily going home, but this is American Idol. Paula still doesn’t think the voters are voting for the right people. Funeral videos, now with royalties for Chris Daughtry! I really like the song, and I think it’s a great choice. A disappointed Leslie gives us another performance of “Feelin’ Good.” Gina is completely losing it. Leslie scats, “Why did I decide to scat? America don’t care for jazz.” Aww, Leslie, don’t be a hater. Looks like among myself, Betsy, and the WBTJ panel, we called all of the eliminations. Nothing terribly surprising, and I’m just happy to see my favorites sticking around. Come back next week for the top eight guys on Tuesday, the top eight girls on Wednesday, and results on Thursday. After next week, we’ll be down to two episodes a week, and the top 12 performers.
American Idol 6, March 1: The Big Day May Be Tonight by Jenn Brasler -- 03/02/2007 Sanjaya didn’t impress many people with his rendition of “Steppin’ Out” this week. Will the voters decide they want him to step out? Or will this be his lucky day? The votes have been cast, and it’s time to say sayonara to four more singers. Ryan makes his way down the long line of singers, then tells us we’re on our way to setting the top 12. Kellie Pickler is around here somewhere (though Ryan can’t seem to find her), and I have to admit, I can’t wait to hear what she has to say. Perhaps we’ll get another embarrassing sound bite from her? Ryan gives us a recap of the past two nights of performances. The guys were much better than last week, namely Chris Sligh and Phil Stacey. Chris Richardson pretended to be Blake Lewis. Sundance Head “went soulful” (and falsetto) while Nick Pedro tried but failed to give people “Fever.” Blake brought the beat box back and A.J. Tabaldo was the first of two singers to do “Feelin’ Good.” Sanjaya Malakar, however, made us all want to leave the room with “Stepping Out.” Brandon Rogers annoyed Simon with his birthday wishes to his father. But Simon likes puppies! Jared Cotter was… there. Last night, the ladies took their turn and many were compared to how they did the week before. Gina Glocksen’s “Alone” wasn’t edgy enough for Simon. Lakisha Jones’ clothes were not to Simon’s tastes. Leslie Hunt scatted on “Feelin’ Good” and Jordin Sparks took on Christina Aguilera with “Reflection.” Stephanie Edwards tried her hand at “Dangerously in Love” and Alaina Alexander warbled “Not Ready to Make Nice.” Antonella Barba tried to take the focus off of her photos with “Because You Loved Me,” but no one really loved it. Sabrina Sloan and Haley Scarnato both sang Whitney Houston (“All the Man That I Need” and “Queen of the Night,” respectively) with various degrees of success. Most agree that Melinda Doolittle’s “My Funny Valentine” was the highlight of the night. Before the results, we get the top 20 singing “Joy to the World.” Everyone gets a little moment of being highlighted, but it’s a little frantic. I don’t think I like the group numbers with so many people. They look like they’re having fun, though. The guys are up on the chopping block first. Ryan asks if it’s any easier this time around. Of course not! Ryan is sure Chris Richardson feels good, but he doesn’t. Ryan starts with Phil, who’s safe. Chris Sligh is awesome, so he’s safe, too. He didn’t even look nervous. Sundance, however, is nervous, but there’s no need - he’s sticking around. Blake is ready for the news, which is, “Sit down.” Jared is the last guy left in the row, and Ryan tells him to join him on stage. That’s not good. Except it is, because Jared is safe. Nick is told to stand, then immediately told that he’s heading home. I think he saw it coming because he accepts the news very well. Randy thinks that Nick should stick with his genre, and all of the singers should be proud for making it this far. Simon says that Nick didn’t have much charisma and didn’t stand out, despite his good voice. Paula reminds us that Nick left in Hollywood last year, and she’s glad he kept going this season. Nick sings us out with “Fever,” sounding pretty good. There goes my eye candy! He slaps hands with all the guys as he sings. Nick forgets the words towards the end and laughs at himself. When the song is over, he thanks everyone. Sundance is crying! Dude. Next the girls face their verdicts. Jordin is nervous but good. She woke up and thought, “I’m so excited… wait, never mind.” Hee. She doesn’t want to have to say goodbye to anyone. Stephanie is the first to hear the news. She’s safe and relieved. Gina looks nervous but gets to live to sing another day. Sabrina gets to sit back down, and Melinda shouldn’t even have to stand up. That leaves Alaina in the row, and Ryan quickly tells her she’s heading home. Alaina also seems to have seen this coming and says she’s okay. She’s just happy to have had this experience. Alaina confirms that this is harder than she thought, then tells the others to sing their butts off. She’s crying, unsurprisingly. She attempts to sing us out with “Not Ready to Make Nice” but can’t quite get her voice, so the backup singers take over while the other girls hug Alaina. Okay, that’s depressing. At least she gets to sing, “I sleep like a baby / With no regrets.” Her family looks really ticked. Paula tells Alaina that the other singers obviously love her. The sound goes out for a minute, but I’m sure she didn’t say anything earth-shattering. Ryan gives us another trivia question. Whatever. To help us take a break from the results, Kellie Picker is here. Her hair looks ridiculous. She says she misses everyone and is glad to be back. She advises the singers to have fun and be themselves. Kellie is getting ready to go on tour with Brad Paisley in April. Ryan teases her about eating sushi and she talks about spider sushi. Shhh, Kellie. She sings “I Wonder,” a song she co-wrote. It’s a sad song about her mother, and she sounds very nice. She barely gets through it without crying (and honestly, so do I). Time for more eliminations! Back to the four remaining guys. Chris Richardson is safe again. Brandon can’t even make eye contact with Ryan, but he gets to stay. This just leaves Sanjaya and A.J., neither of whom did a spectacular job on Tuesday. But America has chosen A.J. to leave the competition. Sanjaya looks really surprised at that; he was convinced tonight would be his last. Paula tells A.J. this is a singing competition but she doesn’t think tonight reflects that. She wants A.J. to keep following his heart. Randy isn’t sure this was the right decision. Simon doesn’t get to say anything. A.J. sings “Feelin’ Good,” and he still sounds better than Sanjaya. Sundance is crying again, as is Melinda. At the end, the guys all hug A.J. goodbye. We have one elimination left, and it’s back to the girls. We’re running out of time and no one believes Lakisha could go home tonight, so Ryan quickly tells her to sit. Haley is safe, too. Shoot, I wanted to get both predictions right tonight. Ryan tells Antonella, Leslie, and Jordin to all join him at center stage. Ryan starts with Antonella, who is safe. Crap. Leslie and Jordin are both scared. Gina is crying. To the surprise of probably no one, Leslie is heading home tonight. Jordin starts crying and hugs her. Ryan says that the right people aren’t necessarily going home, but this is American Idol. Paula still doesn’t think the voters are voting for the right people. Funeral videos, now with royalties for Chris Daughtry! I really like the song, and I think it’s a great choice. A disappointed Leslie gives us another performance of “Feelin’ Good.” Gina is completely losing it. Leslie scats, “Why did I decide to scat? America don’t care for jazz.” Aww, Leslie, don’t be a hater. Looks like among myself, Betsy, and the WBTJ panel, we called all of the eliminations. Nothing terribly surprising, and I’m just happy to see my favorites sticking around. Come back next week for the top eight guys on Tuesday, the top eight girls on Wednesday, and results on Thursday. After next week, we’ll be down to two episodes a week, and the top 12 performers.