April 17, 2007
I am surprised that the show is airing tonight, in light of the horrific circumstances in Virginia yesterday. A nation is in mourning. Perhaps this show is exactly what we need to take our minds off of the tragedy for just one hour. Ryan extends thoughts and prayers on behalf of the show and then introduces the top seven contestants and the judges.
Country music superstar Martina McBride will be tonight’s coach/mentor. They refer to her as a “contemporary” country artist, I suppose because she’s not a hundred. Quick clips of her show us 15 years of different hairdos. She has the kind of pretty face that looks best with short hair, like Ashley Judd and that Charlize gal. Anyways, she has long hair tonight and resembles Cameron from House.
Watching the country music episodes of AI is very bittersweet for me. My angel daughter loved country music and had it playing every waking moment. She has been in heaven now for several years but I still get sad when I hear one twangy note. Today is her birthday; she would have been sweet 16. She would have loved watching Martina coach these kids.
To distract myself somewhat, I pick up the latest Entertainment Weekly that I got in the mail today, the one with the Final 8 AI contestants on the cover. EW is the only celeb-mag that I will read; it is snarky and I like me some snark. I can multi-task by reading the article while watching the show tonight.
Since TIIC really really wants Phil to get the boot, they put him up first, which is the kiss-of-death slot for someone who is already on shaky ground. Martina tells Phil exactly what we’ve known all along – that he usually has a rocky start but a good finish. Tonight he performs “Where the Blacktop Ends,” which My Kid says is by Keith Urban. Phil does well, even though the “that’s right y’all!” is so hokey. He seems more relaxed, kind of like he knows he has one foot out of the AI door. But for the first time, all 3 judges liked Phil’s performance. He seems excited about their comments and tells Ryan that country music is what he’s all about. Who knew? In the EW article, Phil promises that he has not made any “calculated statements” in order to get the sympathy vote. Seacrest seems to think differently, but hopefully none will be needed tonight.
Next is Jordin, and she looks prettier tonight than ever in a long dress. Martina coaches her through one of her own songs, “A Broken Wing” and Jordin seems to genuinely care about making her proud. This is one of those songs that can be turned into a Lifetime movie and has been done before on AI seasons past. Martina is very impressed with the teenager and tells her what we already know, that she is AWESOME! Jordin is remarkable tonight; she just keeps getting better and better. Kinda funny though, according to EW, Jordin is puzzled by all the talk of how much better she is now than she was at the beginning of the competition. Really? Wasn’t she ALWAYS great?? All of the judges think so, to Jordin’s delight. Simon even announces that this performance could make her the winner. This was Fantasia’s “Summertime,” Carrie’s “Alone,” and Katharine’s “Rainbow” all rolled into one!
Ryan is with Sanjaya on the spaceship stools. Sanjaya channels a 200-years-ago-Keith Richards by wearing a wacky bandana tied on his head. Hey, maybe San can play the great-grandson on the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Boy’s gotta do something, because for some reason he has not brought any good singing to this show since his very first audition. Anyway, the fan question involves making one of the judges sing a song. San proves that he is quite the comedian when he answers that Simon should sing “Shiny Happy People.” Oh ha ha.
Even Martina tells Sanjaya that he has to actually “project” and not be so soft-spoken. His hard head makes up for the soft voice though, as he plays his rep for all it’s worth. And since when is Bonnie Raitt a COUNTRY singer? Will San massacre “Something to Talk About” as badly as Pickler did last year? Good song title for him, as he received three times more coverage in the EW article than anyone else. And yep - he is terrible. When he tries to cozy up to the back up singers, they look at him like, “get back you fish-eyed fool!” Even My Kid is throwing in the towel and rejecting the former Adorableness. He doesn’t even get the words to the song right, totally missing the “little mystery to figure out” until the very end. Maybe he didn’t want to remind us that the MYSTERY is why is he still HERE? The judges finally give him the good verbal whooping that he deserves and stupid Ryan tries to come to his defense. So funny when Simon goes all Beyonce on Ryan with the “to the left” bit. Now that was almost worth the ordeal of sitting through San’s singing.
Ryan’s Only One - LaKisha is singing “Jesus Take the Wheel,” and even Martina is like, say it ain’t so, girl! As everyone in the universe knows, it is never a good idea for a contestant to sing a major hit from a former winner. Remember Lisa Tucker’s rendition of Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You” last year? That was the week that she was voted off. It is a self-defeating prophecy, so perhaps this is Kiki’s ticket out? In the EW article, LaKisha talks about her faith in God and how much she misses her little girl. She also says that she has chosen to “sequester” herself from the other contestants, so maybe this is a strategic move on her part. LaKisha’s lifeless performance tonight just reinforces this theory. Last year during country music week, the much more fabulous Mandisa was voted off the show. Mandisa’s ousting was blamed on the speculation that her fan base did not watch during country week and therefore did not vote that week. Even all the judges agree that this was a bad choice for LaKisha. In spite of this, I do not want her to be the one to leave tomorrow. I hate to say it but there will be some window breakage at my house if Malakar outlasts Ms. Jones. Just saying.
Next is Chris who tells us that he is from Virginia but was raised in North Carolina. Yay! I didn’t think we had any connection to my home state this year. Last year was da bomb, with three of the Top 10 from N.C. Oh man, now I want to go back and revisit last year yet again and dwell in the memory of how good it was. Anything to divert me from the nasalness of Chris on a Rascal Flatts song called “Mayberry.” Martina says that he is actually a good country singer, and My Kid agrees that this is how the song is sung. Thank you Chris, for re-validating my disdain for country music. My poor dogs want out NOW, so we exit and do not return until it is finally mercifully over. I assume that the judges will praise him no matter what, because they have for 2 ½ months. Why stop now? My Kid tells me that surprisingly the judges did not really like it and that Chris got all defensive. Not surprising, since according to EW, Chris was ticked that he ended up in the final three during British invasion week, since it was one of his “best vocals,” per Himself. (Hey, at least you’re not still working at Hooters.) I get back in time to hear Chris mention the Va Tech tragedy, and he seems sincere.
It is Melinda’s turn on the spaceship stools with Ryan and they talk about running into crazy fans. She is hilarious when describing a fan reaction and it is evident that she still does not “get” just how wonderful she is. It was dismaying to read in EW that folks still question Melinda’s humility. It is NOT an ACT, people! I am angry to find out that she’s been called names like Shrek and Platypus. Ticks me off so bad, but she will have the last laugh.
Martina has never heard the song that Melinda’s doing called “Trouble is a Woman” but it does not matter. She thinks Melinda is great. Tonight, Mindy Doo is sporting some trendy hair extensions and is wearing a sexy top. As always, she brings 100% of herself into the song and her performance is flawless. She does not belong in this competition; she is way too good for this cheesy show. Even the EW article talks about the phenomenon that is Ms. Doolittle and of course, she is not comfortable being thought of as the front-runner. She says that it is not fair to the others. Well, she is right about that, because she is in a class all by herself and it is a MASTER class. She is singing one of the fun country songs with a woman-scorned-getting-revenge theme. (Also classic Lifetime fodder.) The audience loves her as well as the judges. Simon tells her to can the humility act already and that really just makes him look like a butthole. He redeems himself by favorably comparing Melinda to Tina Turner.
Martina is pleased that Blake will be doing a Tim McGraw song “When the Stars Go Blue,” and she likes his style. My Kid argues that this is not really a country song but was recorded by a pop group first. And First is always the Final Answer, right? Blake does okay with this song and since I have never heard it before, I have no point of comparison. It is hard to watch Blake now and not think about what I read in EW - Blake likes to stay out late and party and resents the chaperones and curfews. He comes across as a self-centered jerk in the article. My Kid loves him and comes to his defense and anyway, he is like mid-twenties and he shouldn’t have a curfew right? I give up and just let it go. Gotta choose your battles with young’ens, ya know? At any rate, the judges give mixed reviews and no one calls him on pulling a Daughtry by turning the themed genre into his own style. Of course, it’s not called “pulling a Daughtry” anymore; the term is now “Blake-ized.” But since I still live in the past…
Simon shows his human side by mentioning that the VA tragedy and that it made it a tough week for the AI contestants.
Recap time and I pick my favorites: Jordin and Melinda by far.
Bottom 3 are Sanjaya’s singing, Sanjaya’s scarf, and Sanjaya’s flirting. My God. As they say every five minutes at Seattle Grace, SERIOUSLY???
I am surprised that the show is airing tonight, in light of the horrific circumstances in Virginia yesterday. A nation is in mourning. Perhaps this show is exactly what we need to take our minds off of the tragedy for just one hour. Ryan extends thoughts and prayers on behalf of the show and then introduces the top seven contestants and the judges.
Country music superstar Martina McBride will be tonight’s coach/mentor. They refer to her as a “contemporary” country artist, I suppose because she’s not a hundred. Quick clips of her show us 15 years of different hairdos. She has the kind of pretty face that looks best with short hair, like Ashley Judd and that Charlize gal. Anyways, she has long hair tonight and resembles Cameron from House.
Watching the country music episodes of AI is very bittersweet for me. My angel daughter loved country music and had it playing every waking moment. She has been in heaven now for several years but I still get sad when I hear one twangy note. Today is her birthday; she would have been sweet 16. She would have loved watching Martina coach these kids.
To distract myself somewhat, I pick up the latest Entertainment Weekly that I got in the mail today, the one with the Final 8 AI contestants on the cover. EW is the only celeb-mag that I will read; it is snarky and I like me some snark. I can multi-task by reading the article while watching the show tonight.
Since TIIC really really wants Phil to get the boot, they put him up first, which is the kiss-of-death slot for someone who is already on shaky ground. Martina tells Phil exactly what we’ve known all along – that he usually has a rocky start but a good finish. Tonight he performs “Where the Blacktop Ends,” which My Kid says is by Keith Urban. Phil does well, even though the “that’s right y’all!” is so hokey. He seems more relaxed, kind of like he knows he has one foot out of the AI door. But for the first time, all 3 judges liked Phil’s performance. He seems excited about their comments and tells Ryan that country music is what he’s all about. Who knew? In the EW article, Phil promises that he has not made any “calculated statements” in order to get the sympathy vote. Seacrest seems to think differently, but hopefully none will be needed tonight.
Next is Jordin, and she looks prettier tonight than ever in a long dress. Martina coaches her through one of her own songs, “A Broken Wing” and Jordin seems to genuinely care about making her proud. This is one of those songs that can be turned into a Lifetime movie and has been done before on AI seasons past. Martina is very impressed with the teenager and tells her what we already know, that she is AWESOME! Jordin is remarkable tonight; she just keeps getting better and better. Kinda funny though, according to EW, Jordin is puzzled by all the talk of how much better she is now than she was at the beginning of the competition. Really? Wasn’t she ALWAYS great?? All of the judges think so, to Jordin’s delight. Simon even announces that this performance could make her the winner. This was Fantasia’s “Summertime,” Carrie’s “Alone,” and Katharine’s “Rainbow” all rolled into one!
Ryan is with Sanjaya on the spaceship stools. Sanjaya channels a 200-years-ago-Keith Richards by wearing a wacky bandana tied on his head. Hey, maybe San can play the great-grandson on the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Boy’s gotta do something, because for some reason he has not brought any good singing to this show since his very first audition. Anyway, the fan question involves making one of the judges sing a song. San proves that he is quite the comedian when he answers that Simon should sing “Shiny Happy People.” Oh ha ha.
Even Martina tells Sanjaya that he has to actually “project” and not be so soft-spoken. His hard head makes up for the soft voice though, as he plays his rep for all it’s worth. And since when is Bonnie Raitt a COUNTRY singer? Will San massacre “Something to Talk About” as badly as Pickler did last year? Good song title for him, as he received three times more coverage in the EW article than anyone else. And yep - he is terrible. When he tries to cozy up to the back up singers, they look at him like, “get back you fish-eyed fool!” Even My Kid is throwing in the towel and rejecting the former Adorableness. He doesn’t even get the words to the song right, totally missing the “little mystery to figure out” until the very end. Maybe he didn’t want to remind us that the MYSTERY is why is he still HERE? The judges finally give him the good verbal whooping that he deserves and stupid Ryan tries to come to his defense. So funny when Simon goes all Beyonce on Ryan with the “to the left” bit. Now that was almost worth the ordeal of sitting through San’s singing.
Ryan’s Only One - LaKisha is singing “Jesus Take the Wheel,” and even Martina is like, say it ain’t so, girl! As everyone in the universe knows, it is never a good idea for a contestant to sing a major hit from a former winner. Remember Lisa Tucker’s rendition of Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You” last year? That was the week that she was voted off. It is a self-defeating prophecy, so perhaps this is Kiki’s ticket out? In the EW article, LaKisha talks about her faith in God and how much she misses her little girl. She also says that she has chosen to “sequester” herself from the other contestants, so maybe this is a strategic move on her part. LaKisha’s lifeless performance tonight just reinforces this theory. Last year during country music week, the much more fabulous Mandisa was voted off the show. Mandisa’s ousting was blamed on the speculation that her fan base did not watch during country week and therefore did not vote that week. Even all the judges agree that this was a bad choice for LaKisha. In spite of this, I do not want her to be the one to leave tomorrow. I hate to say it but there will be some window breakage at my house if Malakar outlasts Ms. Jones. Just saying.
Next is Chris who tells us that he is from Virginia but was raised in North Carolina. Yay! I didn’t think we had any connection to my home state this year. Last year was da bomb, with three of the Top 10 from N.C. Oh man, now I want to go back and revisit last year yet again and dwell in the memory of how good it was. Anything to divert me from the nasalness of Chris on a Rascal Flatts song called “Mayberry.” Martina says that he is actually a good country singer, and My Kid agrees that this is how the song is sung. Thank you Chris, for re-validating my disdain for country music. My poor dogs want out NOW, so we exit and do not return until it is finally mercifully over. I assume that the judges will praise him no matter what, because they have for 2 ½ months. Why stop now? My Kid tells me that surprisingly the judges did not really like it and that Chris got all defensive. Not surprising, since according to EW, Chris was ticked that he ended up in the final three during British invasion week, since it was one of his “best vocals,” per Himself. (Hey, at least you’re not still working at Hooters.) I get back in time to hear Chris mention the Va Tech tragedy, and he seems sincere.
It is Melinda’s turn on the spaceship stools with Ryan and they talk about running into crazy fans. She is hilarious when describing a fan reaction and it is evident that she still does not “get” just how wonderful she is. It was dismaying to read in EW that folks still question Melinda’s humility. It is NOT an ACT, people! I am angry to find out that she’s been called names like Shrek and Platypus. Ticks me off so bad, but she will have the last laugh.
Martina has never heard the song that Melinda’s doing called “Trouble is a Woman” but it does not matter. She thinks Melinda is great. Tonight, Mindy Doo is sporting some trendy hair extensions and is wearing a sexy top. As always, she brings 100% of herself into the song and her performance is flawless. She does not belong in this competition; she is way too good for this cheesy show. Even the EW article talks about the phenomenon that is Ms. Doolittle and of course, she is not comfortable being thought of as the front-runner. She says that it is not fair to the others. Well, she is right about that, because she is in a class all by herself and it is a MASTER class. She is singing one of the fun country songs with a woman-scorned-getting-revenge theme. (Also classic Lifetime fodder.) The audience loves her as well as the judges. Simon tells her to can the humility act already and that really just makes him look like a butthole. He redeems himself by favorably comparing Melinda to Tina Turner.
Martina is pleased that Blake will be doing a Tim McGraw song “When the Stars Go Blue,” and she likes his style. My Kid argues that this is not really a country song but was recorded by a pop group first. And First is always the Final Answer, right? Blake does okay with this song and since I have never heard it before, I have no point of comparison. It is hard to watch Blake now and not think about what I read in EW - Blake likes to stay out late and party and resents the chaperones and curfews. He comes across as a self-centered jerk in the article. My Kid loves him and comes to his defense and anyway, he is like mid-twenties and he shouldn’t have a curfew right? I give up and just let it go. Gotta choose your battles with young’ens, ya know? At any rate, the judges give mixed reviews and no one calls him on pulling a Daughtry by turning the themed genre into his own style. Of course, it’s not called “pulling a Daughtry” anymore; the term is now “Blake-ized.” But since I still live in the past…
Simon shows his human side by mentioning that the VA tragedy and that it made it a tough week for the AI contestants.
Recap time and I pick my favorites: Jordin and Melinda by far.
Bottom 3 are Sanjaya’s singing, Sanjaya’s scarf, and Sanjaya’s flirting. My God. As they say every five minutes at Seattle Grace, SERIOUSLY???
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