I felt that this week’s episode of American Idol was just sort of ho-hum. There were a couple of nice performances, however, there was nothing to make me go wow! As we’ll do each week, we will make our predictions of who we think is going home. Feel free to make your predictions as well.
As we’ve already witnessed, American Idol results are not necessarily based on talent or on a certain performance. These early rounds are usually just a popularity contest. Add into that, there are quite a few people that like to sabatouge Idol results by voting for the least popular contestant. Sure some of it can be because they truly feel sorry for the contestant (remember Jim Verraros from Season One), but others just want to mess with the results. While there are still enough contestants to split the popular vote, it doesn’t take much to skew the results. If it were truly based on talent, Sanjaya Malakar would have been voted off long ago. With all of that in mind, here’s our recap and predictions.
LaKisha Jones had a nice performance, but nothing spectacular. She set the bar so high early on in the contest, that we expect nothing but miraculous performances from her each time. It can be troublesome to be the first contestant to sing, but obviously with her talent, she’s safe for the week.
Gina Glocksen on the other hand, raised the bar last night with her performance. It showed more of her range from being a rock and roll belter, to having more of a soulfull voice. I truly felt that this was the most unique and best performance of the night. She too is safe for the week.
Chris Sligh is tough to figure out. He gained popularity early in the show by using his sense of humor to garner him some votes. Now that he has to sing for a living, it’s getting tougher on him. He does have a nice voice, but I think he lacks the stage presence to last much longer. To boot, why he doesn’t do much more with the $400 a week clothing allowance baffles me. Someone needs to take that boy out and do a fashion makeover. He is in jeopardy this week.
Haley Scarnato has now taken over the role of American Idol hottie, now that Antonella has left. She’s playing it up a bit by showing off as much skin as possible. She does have a great set of legs!  As for her singing, it can be hot or cold. She does have a nice voice and can sing, however last night’s performance was very lackluster. Nothing special about it. She could be in trouble, however, I think that she’ll be around a bit longer. On another note, does she remind anyone else of Kathy Lee Gifford? For some reason, I keep thinking Kathy Lee when I see her. Perhaps a daytime talk show could be in her distant future?
Sanjaya Malakar - What can we say about Sanjaya that hasn’t already been said before? As Paula noted last night, when he sings the chorus’, he can actually sing. It’s the soft melodies where he struggles. He can’t project his voice and gets shut out by the background music. Throw that funky ponytail mohawk into the mix, and that’s a recipe for disaster. I wonder how his poor sister feels now after having watched her brother’s performances for the past few weeks. Didn’t Simon say he was the better singer? Ouch! Obviously Sanjaya is in danger of going home any week he performs. Will he make it to next week?
Phil Stacey also proves hard to figure out where he stands. He does have a nice voice and can sing. Possibly the best voice out of all the remaining male performers, but as Simon likes to say, he doesn’t have the X Factor. Unlike Chris Daughtry from last year, he’s not much of a ladies man. Something about those eyebrows and bald head, just don’t seem to mix. While he has the talent to stay, he is in jeopardy this week.
Jordin Sparks had perhaps the toughest assignment of the night. Why she chose to sing a No Doubt song is beyond me. Why put that pressure on yourself and automatically have yourself compared against Gwen Stefani? I guess her reason of wanting to have fun is plausible, but I think she should have chosen another song. She did a great job of singing it, but the song doesn’t have much to it. She had two of the best performances the past two weeks and should have challenged herself a bit more. I still like her as a dark horse and expect her to do well. She is safe this week.
Blake Lewis’ performance last night was decent. Nothing spectacular, but not bad either. It was nice to hear a softer tone in his voice during last night’s performance. Each time I hear him sing, he reminds me of some of those great 80’s bands. His voice is perfectly suited to that style of music. Perhaps he was born too late, as he would have been a star in the 80’s. Can he make it now? Still tough to say, but he’ll be around for at least another week.
Melinda Doolittle continues to shine each week. I think she has a better voice than LeKisha, however, she might not have the stage presence of LeKisha. If she can remain confident and pick up her stage presence, she’ll be there in the finals. Obviously, we’ll get to enjoy her singing again next week.
Chris Richardson for some reason hasn’t garnered much support from the fans. I’ve always liked his performances and thought he would do extremely well, and perhaps knock Blake out and be the last man standing.  Not sure why he hasn’t caught on yet, but perhaps it’s just that all the teeny boppers are voting for Blake and his beat boxing antics. I liked his performance last night and thought it was one of his best. He didn’t sound as nasaly as he has in the past. Perhaps that been a problem for him in the past? If he can stay around longer and get the chance to train with professional coaches, he do just fine. He just needs the time. I’d like to hear him sing something from Chris Isaak. He seems perfect for that type of song. Unfortunately, he is vulnerable to going home as well.
I think this week a guy is going home. While not all the female performances were outstanding, I think the women showed up the men this week. I believe that all the women are safe from elimation tonight. My bottom three picks in no particular order:
Chris Sligh, Sanjaya Malakar, and Phil Stacey.
So who’s going home?
It is my belief (and hope) that the Sanjaya show comes to an end. Let’s hope that the voters got it right this week.
What are your thoughts and picks? Who do you want and think will go home this week? Check back tomorrow as we’ll see how our picks stacked up.
