March 20: The British Are Coming!
American Idol 6, March 20: The British Are Coming! by Betsy Wasser -- 03/21/2007 It’s British Invasion week on American Idol. Sanjaya is torn between a very cute song and a very sexy song. His choice makes a little girl cry. What will it be? Read on! I just want you lovely readers to know how dedicated I am to recapping every note of tonight’s episode of American Idol. My family and I are moving this week, and today, most of our earthly possessions were loaded onto a truck. But I wouldn’t let them take my TV or computer so I could write this up for you. Right now, I am sitting in an empty room, on the floor, with the TV on the floor about a foot away from my feet. My laptop is literally on my lap. And baby, I am fired up for some Idol. So let’s get to it. Ryan welcomes us to this week’s episode. In the background, we see Simon and Paula hug. Let’s see if they get along any better than usual this week. Ryan introduces the Idols, and Haley is looking rather… bouncy this week. Ryan asks Randy if there’s any excuse for forgetting the lyrics. Of course, he says no and advises everyone to bring their A game. Paula suggests that the Idols “picture Simon not dressed” to get rid of their nerves. Simon asks, mock-horrified, if that’s all Paula thinks about. This week’s theme is the 1960’s British invasion. We get a quick history lesson, starting, of course, with The Beatles. Many British bands dominated the charts, and there was some pretty amazing bands. This week’s guest judges are Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits. Lulu was famous for her son “To Sir With Love,” with by the way, would be a great choice for Jordin Sparks. Peter worked with the guys and looks as peppy as ever. Lulu, of course, worked with the ladies. She is looking forward to hearing them sing this week. Peter says that they need to show the same enthusiasm as those ‘60s bands. Haley is up first. She’s going to sing “Tell Him,” and she wants to be more aggressive, less sweet. Lulu thinks it’s a great choice, but advises her to shorten her phrasing, make it more staccato and to sing key parts into the camera. Lulu tells her that “big voices are great,” but that there’s a place for everybody. She tells Haley to be proud of who she is. Haley, as I said, is looking bouncy in a gold halter top and hot pants. She is showing more personality than we’ve ever seen from her on this show. She looks kand sounds just adorable. She is a little too soft in parts, which is really the weakness of the performance. The big change, I think is that tonight, Haley decided to be the sexy one. It is, after all, a slot that Antonella vacated! This is her best performance yet. She’s not as good of a singer as the other powerhouses, but this could keep her around for a while longer. The crowd, by the way, loves it. Randy: “That was the perfect song for you.” He says it was her best performance yet, and she has “the yo factor. Paula: She had a girlish quality, she was adorable and flirtacious. Simon: “You naughty little thing!” He says it was fun and young, but “a bit shrieky” in the middle. He thinks people will be talking about more than her singing. Ryan thinks Simon might be in trouble with his girlfriend later. Ryan wonders if it was hard navigating the stairs in her heels. Haley smiles and says it involved “a lot of prayer. Chris Richardson says he wants to “finally nail a song.” He’s going to sing “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying.” He wants to connect, not just perform. Peter says he looks like a star, but he didn’t hear much of his voice. Peter seems to think he’s a bit breathy. He tells him to watch out for his vibrato. He tells him to stick with the melody, adding that it has a great melody. Peter thinks Chris never showed the audience that great melody. He is really quite critical, but I think that means Chris will have it figured out by the time he hits the stage. Chris is sitting on a stool next to a guy playing the guitar. Sounds to me like he didn’t take Peter’s advice – the vibrato is definitely there. Remember last week when the judges slammed contestants for messing with the classics? That’s what Chris is doing here, and I really think he’d have done better if he’d done something simpler and more restrained. This one didn’t do it for me. Randy: “Another great performance.” He likes seeing a different side of Chris and says it was a beautiful vocal. Paula: This was a very smart choice, and he’s playing to win. She loved the acoustics and found it “sexy and charming.” Simon: “Your best performance ever.” He had excellent control and didn’t make it sound old-fashioned. Chris says it was hard not doing more runs, but he feels like it went well. Stephanie, in a hot blue dress with boots, chats with Ryan. Her fan, Wanda, asks what the hardest part of getting ready is. Stephanie answers that it’s picking the right song, since it’s such an important decision. Ryan thinks the energy is different this week. Stephanie agrees, and says everyone is more focused. Stephanie’s song is going to be “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.” Lulu says she’s very grounded and sang it “looking right into my eyes.” Lulu compares her to Beyonce, which thrills Stephanie. Lulu predicts it’ll be great. Stephanie is backed by a huge band, which is impressive. It’s a song that has the potential for a powerhouse performance, and Stephanie falls just short of hitting it. Randy: It was pitchy in places and wasn’t his favorite. He thinks she has trouble with ballads, compared to up-tempo songs. Paula: She loves Stephanie’s sexy dress and thinks she picked the right song. A few notes fell off, though, and she needs to have more fun. Simon: Simon asks how she thinks she did. Stephanie hesitates and says she did well. The crowd cheers, but Simon thinks she’s losing her edge, her soul. He thinks it was cabaret and that she’s becoming too old for herself. Stephanie admits she didn’t know many of the songs of the genre. She tried her best. Is she losing her edge? Stephanie’s willing to consider doing more up-tempo songs. Randy tells her to just go ahead and have fun with whatever she sings. Blake practices “Time of the Season” with a little bit of beat boxing. Too bad he murdered that high note. Peter jokes that he doesn’t want to sit in the front row of a concert and get spit on. Peter tells him to make sure the beating doesn’t get in the way of the song, that it could mess up the phrasing. Peter thinks that “the youngsters” will vote for him. Blake’s plaid pants show off his usual funky dance moves. The beat boxing is cool, and his vocals sound good, but are a bit quiet in places. His voice hasn’t sounded so good since he did Keene so many weeks ago. Blake also managed to out-sexy Chris Richardson this week, which is an impressive feat. This performance was totally cool and is my favorite of the night so far. Randy: This week’s song had “massive yo factor.” It sounded really current. Paula: He’s raised the bar, and she felt like she was at a concert. Simon: “A million times better than last week.” He picked the right song and found a way to be contemporary without messing up the melody. “Strongest performance so far. Ryan asks what the secret is to modernizing an older song. Blake says he tries to put as much passion into it as she can. Blake beats for Ryan and the two of them dance together, much to Paula’s delight. She actually giggles and grabs Simon’s shoulder. Blake looks totally thrilled. LaKisha admits that she’s having a hard time choosing a song, leaning towards “Diamonds are Forever,” but also considers “You’re My World.” Lulu thinks the second is a more soulful choice. In fact, she thinks it so emphatically, that she gets up and talks to LaKisha about it, stopping her interview. She sings the song to LaKisha and hopes she’ll go for it… but she thinks Simon probably loves “Diamonds Are Forever.” Ryan tells us she’s wearing “about a million dollars worth of diamonds.” Sure enough, she’s singing “Diamonds Are Forever,” sparkling and wearing a sexy green dress. She sounds great and hits every note, but I’m not as wowed by this performance as I was by last week’s. LaKisha set the bar awfully high for herself. Her final note is pretty amazing. Randy: He quickly finds out it is not Simon’s favorite song. It wasn’t Randy’s favorite and didn’t show “enough LaKisha.” It was just okay. Paula: It was a good song choice, and she’s a smart girl for scoring all of those diamonds. Paula and Randy volunteer to be her bodyguard. Simon: Simon doesn’t believe she’s really wearing a million dollars worth of diamonds. She is a fantastic singer, but the performance was “LaKisha in fifty years’ time.” Her song, her dress, her hair, and her mannerisms were too old. The audience boos, and Simon shrugs, “Sorry for having an opinion. LaKisha shrugs that “you take the good with the bad and the ugly.” She says that if she sounds like this 45 years from now, she’ll be happy. Simon refuses to answer about what he thinks of the dress. Ryan asks Randy if her appearance is okay. Randy thinks she looks great, but she should have added some runs to the song and taken more risks. Phil is going to sing “Tobacco Road.” Peter thinks it’s a great song for his voice and that it shows a lot of life. Peter thinks Phil can make us believe the song. Phil busts onto the stage with his bald head, strutting and growling, and carrying around the microphone stand. My first thought is, “Hey, look who wants to be Chris Daughtry!” It’s a good performance, but kind of weird because it doesn’t remind me of anything else Phil has ever done before. I also, honestly, don’t like the song itself, which could be tainting my opinion. Randy: Phil had a good time, and it was a pretty good performance, pitchy in places. Paula: Good song choice, but he had pitch problems. He had the emotion and showed a lot of range. Simon: “A third division bar band performance.” He didn’t hear any grit in his voice, and he needs that to pull of that song. He doesn’t know what advice to give him, because he’s being outsung by a lot of the others. He might have a problem next week. Phil tells Ryan that being in the bottom three last week made him really want to bring it. He asks the audience if they had fun, and it comes across as a bit desperate to me. Jordin and Ryan chat before her performance. Her fan question is from a guy named Jeffrey, and he wants a song that describes her best. Jordin says it’s “I’m So Excited,” and she admits that she says it all the time and that the other contestants can vouch for that. I bet that’s annoying, but Jordin’s still cute. Jordin says it was really cool to meet Lulu. She is about seven feet taller. She’s going to sing “I, Who Have Nothing.” Lulu loves the song, saying it’s very dramatic. Jordin appreciates the feedback she’s getting. Lulu is a really good coach! She says that Jordin is amazing, especially given her age. Jordin laughs that it was empowering “and I don’t even have a boyfriend!” Lulu promises she will. Jordin slowly walks to center stage in a gorgeous black dress. It is, as Lulu promised, very dramatic. Her hair is straight this week, and it’s just as pretty as it is curly. Oh, and her voice? Man, this kid is good. It’s a big song, and Jordin completely owns it. Absolutely incredibly. This is a true “Idol moment.” Randy: The crowd loves her. He says the song was a tall order, and she gave a great performance, one of the best of the night. Paula: Her range is impressive for any age. She’s also a wonderful performer. Simon: She sang the song beautifully, “but I feel like jumping off a bridge.” Jordin laughs, and so does Simon. “I just want the sun to shine or something.” Ryan says that to understand the song, you have to experience love with someone other than yourself, which is why Simon must not get it. Randy cracks up, and Ryan says he seems happy. Randy agrees that everyone is doing great. Jordin says she had to get serious so she could sing the song right. Ryan promises that after the break we’ll see “the wild side of Sanjaya.” Yikes. Ryan chats with Peter in the audience. Peter says he advised the guys to stick with the melody. He says it’s not a singing competition, but rather a voting competition. They all have good voices and need to perform well. Ryan says Peter must have been “very positive.” Peter says he is a positive person as “most English people are.” The Simon jokes are easy. Sanjaya admits he had no idea what to sing. He tries “You Really Got Me” first. Peter thinks Sanjaya is cute, but inexperienced. It sounds horrid. The other song is Peter’s song, “Into Something Good.” Peter thinks it’s an easier pick for him, but tells him to give The Kinks a shot. The performance is, I’m sorry, laughably bad. The most awesome part is when we see a little girl in the crowd, screaming and crying, Beatlemania style. Oh, wait – it gets funnier. He attempts to strut sexily around the audience, including with the aforementioned girl. He also crouches and sings to Paula. It is seriously like parody, especially when he screams. The cameras keep cutting to the crying girl, hopefully because they think it’s as funny as I do. By the way, when I asked a few weeks ago for anyone who is voting for Sanjaya to email me, I didn’t hear from a single person. Interesting. Obviously, somebody likes the guy, but I guess no one wants to admit it. Randy: “You shocked me tonight.” Usually, Sanjaya is mild and meek, but he gave his best performance to date. We see the crying girl again. I hope her friends give her all kinds of crap about it at school tomorrow. Paula: He went for it, and it was fun. Simon: “I think the little girl’s face says it all.” Simon speaks for all of us by cringing. Ryan says he thinks the girl liked him. She grins and agrees. Her name is Ashley, and Sanjaya gives her a big hug. You know, I’ve been guessing that Sanjaya was good for at least eighth place, but if anything can booth him earlier, this will be it. Gina Glocksen is up next, but first, she’s got to chat with Ryan. Gina says that there have been lots of great performances. She thinks the judges have been great, though Ryan says that’s a good thing to say, considering she’s yet to be judged. Gina’s softball fan question gives her the opportunity to say that yes, being on Idol has made her stronger. She says she tries not to listen to what the media has to say. Gina is going to sing “Paint It Black,” and Lulu loves the idea. So do I. Lulu wonders if she can sing the song in a higher key, and Gina is glad she did. Lulu says she needs to get as much drama out of the song as she can and “just devour it.” Gina says that Lulu is a rocker girl at heart. Lulu hopes she loses herself in the song. The beginning is high on drama, but low on melody. When she hits the chorus, she sounds good, but a lot of it is just too much growling and too much shouting. Maybe if she hadn’t had to shorten the song it would have come across better. Just as Blake needs to not just beat, but also sing, Gina needs to not just rawk, but also sing. This week, we don’t hear her voice. Randy: She’s the “resident rocker,” and he likes her edge, but the vocal was “just all right.” Paula: It was “miles better than last week,” and she should let loose and have fun. Paula jokes that this is Simon’s true favorite song. Simon: “There were moments of complete torture in that vocal.” It was “style over content.” If she wants to do well, she’ll have to sing better. Gina is clearly trying not to cry. She says that Simon is honest, and she appreciates that. She’s got a whole lot of black eye makeup on, so she really needs to hold onto herself. Paula tells her to “feel free” and to be who she is. Randy tells her that she should look for songs that let her sing “big notes.” Simon says that she knows who she is and doesn’t need to find herself, but that she needs to sing better. Gina shrugs that she had fun. She says she sang and performed and that she feels good about it. Chris Sligh says he’s done some research on Peter Noone, in particular that he was once voted “sexiest artist alive.” Peter says that it’s all about attitude, in particular with a song like “Henry VII.” Chris is singing “She’s Not There,” one of his favorite songs. Peter tells Chris to figure out what the song is about and to make it his own. Then, the audience will believe it. Peter says he hopes Chris isn’t too careful after last week’s critiques. Chris begins his performance by walking through the crowd, and it’s really not a good move. He’s too focused on the song—and rightfully so—to interact with the audience. His vocals are quite good, but the way he chose to perform detracts from it. Once he gets on stage, it’s better. Randy: Randy disagrees with me, and likes that Chris came out of the crowd. He was a bit ahead of the bit at first, but he wound up good and ended strongly. Paula: She likes the way he dressed and the way he worked the audience. But, she advises, he should interact with the audience more. Simon: Simon wonders how he could have been more personable with the audience. Chris says he sees what she’s saying, but thinks the song was a bit dark. Simon, channeling Randy, says he did his thing. It was fun, but not the best vocal of the night. He showed personality, and it was a big improvement. Chris tells Ryan that he had to focus on a lot, including not tripping when walking through the audience because “I’m a bit clumsy and chubby.” He admits to giving Simon a little jab with the mike stand. He also calls out to his fans, the “Fro Patro!” Melinda is ending the night. She says she had trouble finding a song, but went with “As Long As He Needs Me.” Lulu says it’s a great torch song, but Melinda admits it’s out of her comfort zone. Lulu is impressed and says Melinda found herself in the song. Lulu thinks that Melinda is shining. Okay, here’s the deal. If I judge Melinda purely on the vocals, it’s outstanding. She nails every last bit of it and makes the little girl cry again. She has an amazing voice, and it is in full form here. But I’m also judging the performance, and there is something about Melinda that doesn’t quite sell the song for me. Her posture looks hunched, and she has an unfortunate tendency to squint. It’s hard to reconcile that powerhouse voice with the meek persona. I know I’ll probably get hate mail for saying this, but hey, it’s my opinion – and I will say again, she sounds spectacular. Randy: “We saved the best vocal for last.” He loves her relative pitch. She’s a pro. Paula: She tells a story with the song, and it’s beautiful. Simon: “Are you really as nice as you seem?” Melinda says she hopes so. Simon says the beginning was boring, but the end was sensational, with “an impeccable vocal.” He adds that she really is that nice. Melinda says that really is her. She adds that Lulu is “the ultimate firecracker.” Overall, this was a much better than what we saw last week. I really enjoyed most of the performances and the variety we saw. Here’s how I’d rank tonight’s performances: Blake Haley Melinda Jordin LaKisha Chris Sligh Stephanie Chris Richardson Phil Gina Sanjaya I think we’ll see Phil, Gina, and Stephanie at center stage tomorrow night. Gina is different enough to keep her around for another week. I predict that Phil will be the one hearing the sad Daughtry song at the end of tomorrow night’s episode. My TV and computer will be all packed up then, but Jenn Brasler will take good care of you with the results.
American Idol 6, March 20: The British Are Coming! by Betsy Wasser -- 03/21/2007 It’s British Invasion week on American Idol. Sanjaya is torn between a very cute song and a very sexy song. His choice makes a little girl cry. What will it be? Read on! I just want you lovely readers to know how dedicated I am to recapping every note of tonight’s episode of American Idol. My family and I are moving this week, and today, most of our earthly possessions were loaded onto a truck. But I wouldn’t let them take my TV or computer so I could write this up for you. Right now, I am sitting in an empty room, on the floor, with the TV on the floor about a foot away from my feet. My laptop is literally on my lap. And baby, I am fired up for some Idol. So let’s get to it. Ryan welcomes us to this week’s episode. In the background, we see Simon and Paula hug. Let’s see if they get along any better than usual this week. Ryan introduces the Idols, and Haley is looking rather… bouncy this week. Ryan asks Randy if there’s any excuse for forgetting the lyrics. Of course, he says no and advises everyone to bring their A game. Paula suggests that the Idols “picture Simon not dressed” to get rid of their nerves. Simon asks, mock-horrified, if that’s all Paula thinks about. This week’s theme is the 1960’s British invasion. We get a quick history lesson, starting, of course, with The Beatles. Many British bands dominated the charts, and there was some pretty amazing bands. This week’s guest judges are Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits. Lulu was famous for her son “To Sir With Love,” with by the way, would be a great choice for Jordin Sparks. Peter worked with the guys and looks as peppy as ever. Lulu, of course, worked with the ladies. She is looking forward to hearing them sing this week. Peter says that they need to show the same enthusiasm as those ‘60s bands. Haley is up first. She’s going to sing “Tell Him,” and she wants to be more aggressive, less sweet. Lulu thinks it’s a great choice, but advises her to shorten her phrasing, make it more staccato and to sing key parts into the camera. Lulu tells her that “big voices are great,” but that there’s a place for everybody. She tells Haley to be proud of who she is. Haley, as I said, is looking bouncy in a gold halter top and hot pants. She is showing more personality than we’ve ever seen from her on this show. She looks kand sounds just adorable. She is a little too soft in parts, which is really the weakness of the performance. The big change, I think is that tonight, Haley decided to be the sexy one. It is, after all, a slot that Antonella vacated! This is her best performance yet. She’s not as good of a singer as the other powerhouses, but this could keep her around for a while longer. The crowd, by the way, loves it. Randy: “That was the perfect song for you.” He says it was her best performance yet, and she has “the yo factor. Paula: She had a girlish quality, she was adorable and flirtacious. Simon: “You naughty little thing!” He says it was fun and young, but “a bit shrieky” in the middle. He thinks people will be talking about more than her singing. Ryan thinks Simon might be in trouble with his girlfriend later. Ryan wonders if it was hard navigating the stairs in her heels. Haley smiles and says it involved “a lot of prayer. Chris Richardson says he wants to “finally nail a song.” He’s going to sing “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying.” He wants to connect, not just perform. Peter says he looks like a star, but he didn’t hear much of his voice. Peter seems to think he’s a bit breathy. He tells him to watch out for his vibrato. He tells him to stick with the melody, adding that it has a great melody. Peter thinks Chris never showed the audience that great melody. He is really quite critical, but I think that means Chris will have it figured out by the time he hits the stage. Chris is sitting on a stool next to a guy playing the guitar. Sounds to me like he didn’t take Peter’s advice – the vibrato is definitely there. Remember last week when the judges slammed contestants for messing with the classics? That’s what Chris is doing here, and I really think he’d have done better if he’d done something simpler and more restrained. This one didn’t do it for me. Randy: “Another great performance.” He likes seeing a different side of Chris and says it was a beautiful vocal. Paula: This was a very smart choice, and he’s playing to win. She loved the acoustics and found it “sexy and charming.” Simon: “Your best performance ever.” He had excellent control and didn’t make it sound old-fashioned. Chris says it was hard not doing more runs, but he feels like it went well. Stephanie, in a hot blue dress with boots, chats with Ryan. Her fan, Wanda, asks what the hardest part of getting ready is. Stephanie answers that it’s picking the right song, since it’s such an important decision. Ryan thinks the energy is different this week. Stephanie agrees, and says everyone is more focused. Stephanie’s song is going to be “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.” Lulu says she’s very grounded and sang it “looking right into my eyes.” Lulu compares her to Beyonce, which thrills Stephanie. Lulu predicts it’ll be great. Stephanie is backed by a huge band, which is impressive. It’s a song that has the potential for a powerhouse performance, and Stephanie falls just short of hitting it. Randy: It was pitchy in places and wasn’t his favorite. He thinks she has trouble with ballads, compared to up-tempo songs. Paula: She loves Stephanie’s sexy dress and thinks she picked the right song. A few notes fell off, though, and she needs to have more fun. Simon: Simon asks how she thinks she did. Stephanie hesitates and says she did well. The crowd cheers, but Simon thinks she’s losing her edge, her soul. He thinks it was cabaret and that she’s becoming too old for herself. Stephanie admits she didn’t know many of the songs of the genre. She tried her best. Is she losing her edge? Stephanie’s willing to consider doing more up-tempo songs. Randy tells her to just go ahead and have fun with whatever she sings. Blake practices “Time of the Season” with a little bit of beat boxing. Too bad he murdered that high note. Peter jokes that he doesn’t want to sit in the front row of a concert and get spit on. Peter tells him to make sure the beating doesn’t get in the way of the song, that it could mess up the phrasing. Peter thinks that “the youngsters” will vote for him. Blake’s plaid pants show off his usual funky dance moves. The beat boxing is cool, and his vocals sound good, but are a bit quiet in places. His voice hasn’t sounded so good since he did Keene so many weeks ago. Blake also managed to out-sexy Chris Richardson this week, which is an impressive feat. This performance was totally cool and is my favorite of the night so far. Randy: This week’s song had “massive yo factor.” It sounded really current. Paula: He’s raised the bar, and she felt like she was at a concert. Simon: “A million times better than last week.” He picked the right song and found a way to be contemporary without messing up the melody. “Strongest performance so far. Ryan asks what the secret is to modernizing an older song. Blake says he tries to put as much passion into it as she can. Blake beats for Ryan and the two of them dance together, much to Paula’s delight. She actually giggles and grabs Simon’s shoulder. Blake looks totally thrilled. LaKisha admits that she’s having a hard time choosing a song, leaning towards “Diamonds are Forever,” but also considers “You’re My World.” Lulu thinks the second is a more soulful choice. In fact, she thinks it so emphatically, that she gets up and talks to LaKisha about it, stopping her interview. She sings the song to LaKisha and hopes she’ll go for it… but she thinks Simon probably loves “Diamonds Are Forever.” Ryan tells us she’s wearing “about a million dollars worth of diamonds.” Sure enough, she’s singing “Diamonds Are Forever,” sparkling and wearing a sexy green dress. She sounds great and hits every note, but I’m not as wowed by this performance as I was by last week’s. LaKisha set the bar awfully high for herself. Her final note is pretty amazing. Randy: He quickly finds out it is not Simon’s favorite song. It wasn’t Randy’s favorite and didn’t show “enough LaKisha.” It was just okay. Paula: It was a good song choice, and she’s a smart girl for scoring all of those diamonds. Paula and Randy volunteer to be her bodyguard. Simon: Simon doesn’t believe she’s really wearing a million dollars worth of diamonds. She is a fantastic singer, but the performance was “LaKisha in fifty years’ time.” Her song, her dress, her hair, and her mannerisms were too old. The audience boos, and Simon shrugs, “Sorry for having an opinion. LaKisha shrugs that “you take the good with the bad and the ugly.” She says that if she sounds like this 45 years from now, she’ll be happy. Simon refuses to answer about what he thinks of the dress. Ryan asks Randy if her appearance is okay. Randy thinks she looks great, but she should have added some runs to the song and taken more risks. Phil is going to sing “Tobacco Road.” Peter thinks it’s a great song for his voice and that it shows a lot of life. Peter thinks Phil can make us believe the song. Phil busts onto the stage with his bald head, strutting and growling, and carrying around the microphone stand. My first thought is, “Hey, look who wants to be Chris Daughtry!” It’s a good performance, but kind of weird because it doesn’t remind me of anything else Phil has ever done before. I also, honestly, don’t like the song itself, which could be tainting my opinion. Randy: Phil had a good time, and it was a pretty good performance, pitchy in places. Paula: Good song choice, but he had pitch problems. He had the emotion and showed a lot of range. Simon: “A third division bar band performance.” He didn’t hear any grit in his voice, and he needs that to pull of that song. He doesn’t know what advice to give him, because he’s being outsung by a lot of the others. He might have a problem next week. Phil tells Ryan that being in the bottom three last week made him really want to bring it. He asks the audience if they had fun, and it comes across as a bit desperate to me. Jordin and Ryan chat before her performance. Her fan question is from a guy named Jeffrey, and he wants a song that describes her best. Jordin says it’s “I’m So Excited,” and she admits that she says it all the time and that the other contestants can vouch for that. I bet that’s annoying, but Jordin’s still cute. Jordin says it was really cool to meet Lulu. She is about seven feet taller. She’s going to sing “I, Who Have Nothing.” Lulu loves the song, saying it’s very dramatic. Jordin appreciates the feedback she’s getting. Lulu is a really good coach! She says that Jordin is amazing, especially given her age. Jordin laughs that it was empowering “and I don’t even have a boyfriend!” Lulu promises she will. Jordin slowly walks to center stage in a gorgeous black dress. It is, as Lulu promised, very dramatic. Her hair is straight this week, and it’s just as pretty as it is curly. Oh, and her voice? Man, this kid is good. It’s a big song, and Jordin completely owns it. Absolutely incredibly. This is a true “Idol moment.” Randy: The crowd loves her. He says the song was a tall order, and she gave a great performance, one of the best of the night. Paula: Her range is impressive for any age. She’s also a wonderful performer. Simon: She sang the song beautifully, “but I feel like jumping off a bridge.” Jordin laughs, and so does Simon. “I just want the sun to shine or something.” Ryan says that to understand the song, you have to experience love with someone other than yourself, which is why Simon must not get it. Randy cracks up, and Ryan says he seems happy. Randy agrees that everyone is doing great. Jordin says she had to get serious so she could sing the song right. Ryan promises that after the break we’ll see “the wild side of Sanjaya.” Yikes. Ryan chats with Peter in the audience. Peter says he advised the guys to stick with the melody. He says it’s not a singing competition, but rather a voting competition. They all have good voices and need to perform well. Ryan says Peter must have been “very positive.” Peter says he is a positive person as “most English people are.” The Simon jokes are easy. Sanjaya admits he had no idea what to sing. He tries “You Really Got Me” first. Peter thinks Sanjaya is cute, but inexperienced. It sounds horrid. The other song is Peter’s song, “Into Something Good.” Peter thinks it’s an easier pick for him, but tells him to give The Kinks a shot. The performance is, I’m sorry, laughably bad. The most awesome part is when we see a little girl in the crowd, screaming and crying, Beatlemania style. Oh, wait – it gets funnier. He attempts to strut sexily around the audience, including with the aforementioned girl. He also crouches and sings to Paula. It is seriously like parody, especially when he screams. The cameras keep cutting to the crying girl, hopefully because they think it’s as funny as I do. By the way, when I asked a few weeks ago for anyone who is voting for Sanjaya to email me, I didn’t hear from a single person. Interesting. Obviously, somebody likes the guy, but I guess no one wants to admit it. Randy: “You shocked me tonight.” Usually, Sanjaya is mild and meek, but he gave his best performance to date. We see the crying girl again. I hope her friends give her all kinds of crap about it at school tomorrow. Paula: He went for it, and it was fun. Simon: “I think the little girl’s face says it all.” Simon speaks for all of us by cringing. Ryan says he thinks the girl liked him. She grins and agrees. Her name is Ashley, and Sanjaya gives her a big hug. You know, I’ve been guessing that Sanjaya was good for at least eighth place, but if anything can booth him earlier, this will be it. Gina Glocksen is up next, but first, she’s got to chat with Ryan. Gina says that there have been lots of great performances. She thinks the judges have been great, though Ryan says that’s a good thing to say, considering she’s yet to be judged. Gina’s softball fan question gives her the opportunity to say that yes, being on Idol has made her stronger. She says she tries not to listen to what the media has to say. Gina is going to sing “Paint It Black,” and Lulu loves the idea. So do I. Lulu wonders if she can sing the song in a higher key, and Gina is glad she did. Lulu says she needs to get as much drama out of the song as she can and “just devour it.” Gina says that Lulu is a rocker girl at heart. Lulu hopes she loses herself in the song. The beginning is high on drama, but low on melody. When she hits the chorus, she sounds good, but a lot of it is just too much growling and too much shouting. Maybe if she hadn’t had to shorten the song it would have come across better. Just as Blake needs to not just beat, but also sing, Gina needs to not just rawk, but also sing. This week, we don’t hear her voice. Randy: She’s the “resident rocker,” and he likes her edge, but the vocal was “just all right.” Paula: It was “miles better than last week,” and she should let loose and have fun. Paula jokes that this is Simon’s true favorite song. Simon: “There were moments of complete torture in that vocal.” It was “style over content.” If she wants to do well, she’ll have to sing better. Gina is clearly trying not to cry. She says that Simon is honest, and she appreciates that. She’s got a whole lot of black eye makeup on, so she really needs to hold onto herself. Paula tells her to “feel free” and to be who she is. Randy tells her that she should look for songs that let her sing “big notes.” Simon says that she knows who she is and doesn’t need to find herself, but that she needs to sing better. Gina shrugs that she had fun. She says she sang and performed and that she feels good about it. Chris Sligh says he’s done some research on Peter Noone, in particular that he was once voted “sexiest artist alive.” Peter says that it’s all about attitude, in particular with a song like “Henry VII.” Chris is singing “She’s Not There,” one of his favorite songs. Peter tells Chris to figure out what the song is about and to make it his own. Then, the audience will believe it. Peter says he hopes Chris isn’t too careful after last week’s critiques. Chris begins his performance by walking through the crowd, and it’s really not a good move. He’s too focused on the song—and rightfully so—to interact with the audience. His vocals are quite good, but the way he chose to perform detracts from it. Once he gets on stage, it’s better. Randy: Randy disagrees with me, and likes that Chris came out of the crowd. He was a bit ahead of the bit at first, but he wound up good and ended strongly. Paula: She likes the way he dressed and the way he worked the audience. But, she advises, he should interact with the audience more. Simon: Simon wonders how he could have been more personable with the audience. Chris says he sees what she’s saying, but thinks the song was a bit dark. Simon, channeling Randy, says he did his thing. It was fun, but not the best vocal of the night. He showed personality, and it was a big improvement. Chris tells Ryan that he had to focus on a lot, including not tripping when walking through the audience because “I’m a bit clumsy and chubby.” He admits to giving Simon a little jab with the mike stand. He also calls out to his fans, the “Fro Patro!” Melinda is ending the night. She says she had trouble finding a song, but went with “As Long As He Needs Me.” Lulu says it’s a great torch song, but Melinda admits it’s out of her comfort zone. Lulu is impressed and says Melinda found herself in the song. Lulu thinks that Melinda is shining. Okay, here’s the deal. If I judge Melinda purely on the vocals, it’s outstanding. She nails every last bit of it and makes the little girl cry again. She has an amazing voice, and it is in full form here. But I’m also judging the performance, and there is something about Melinda that doesn’t quite sell the song for me. Her posture looks hunched, and she has an unfortunate tendency to squint. It’s hard to reconcile that powerhouse voice with the meek persona. I know I’ll probably get hate mail for saying this, but hey, it’s my opinion – and I will say again, she sounds spectacular. Randy: “We saved the best vocal for last.” He loves her relative pitch. She’s a pro. Paula: She tells a story with the song, and it’s beautiful. Simon: “Are you really as nice as you seem?” Melinda says she hopes so. Simon says the beginning was boring, but the end was sensational, with “an impeccable vocal.” He adds that she really is that nice. Melinda says that really is her. She adds that Lulu is “the ultimate firecracker.” Overall, this was a much better than what we saw last week. I really enjoyed most of the performances and the variety we saw. Here’s how I’d rank tonight’s performances: Blake Haley Melinda Jordin LaKisha Chris Sligh Stephanie Chris Richardson Phil Gina Sanjaya I think we’ll see Phil, Gina, and Stephanie at center stage tomorrow night. Gina is different enough to keep her around for another week. I predict that Phil will be the one hearing the sad Daughtry song at the end of tomorrow night’s episode. My TV and computer will be all packed up then, but Jenn Brasler will take good care of you with the results.