Seattle Rocks American Idol S6

(Click Idol Talk button for more reviews)

“100,000 down; 2 to go. One guy, one girl, and one last chance to win your vote. This is the night. This is the audience. This is American Idol.” - Ryan Seacrest

Funnies and Notables:

• “Simon Cleavage”
• Paula broke her nose? Tripping on painkillers her dog, Tulip? (Ya know we luv ya, Paula.)
• Blake won the coin toss (done with a nifty little coin) and asked Jordin if she wanted to go first or second. What a gentleman.
• Blake has never seen an American Idol finale, yet he is one of the final two.
• Is the lighting so bright in the Kodak Theatre that the boys have to wear eyeliner?

Round #1

Blake – “You Give Love a Bad Name” Bon Jovi

Smart song choice from Blake’s previous performances. Although, the running across the stage was distracting. I kept thinking Blake would bop himself in the face with the mic. LOL

Jordin – “Fighter” Christina Aguilera

Jordin has an incredible voice. We all knew that. She came out blazing guns like a true “Fighter” with a Christina song. Not too many contestants can pull that off. Can you believe she’s only 17?

Had she not gone up against Blake’s popular performance, I think Jordin would have yielded even more praise. I thought this was a great song choice and one of her best performances of the season.

Round #2

Blake – “She Will Be Loved” Maroon 5

Blake sounded smooth, sensitive… and extremely safe. As the contestant noted for being unique and risky, I was surprised by Blake’s song choice. After all, he’s going up against one of the more talented singers. I wonder why he didn’t capitalize on his talent and characteristic style. Blakey, what were you thinking??!! I think this choice could cost him the competition.

Jordin – “Broken Wing” Martina McBride

Not my favorite season performance, but still great vocals from Jordin!

Round #3 – “This Is My Now” – Songwriter’s competition winner

Halfway though, poor Blake looked bored with the song. I thought he did really well through the first half of the song during the verse. He reminded me of Savage Garden. Then at the key change, Blake hit a rough patch. He started bouncing and suddenly the song lost its momentum. Given that this song was not his style or genre, he should have been more aggressive and picked a song he could stylize for the new/unheard performance choice. Dont’cha think?? Moving on…

I thought Jordin would soar with this song, and she did on the chorus. The girl can rock those big, long notes, but the verse was a little rough as if it was in her break point. There were some pretty tough note changes and the song’s range was fairly big.

Jordin, however, won huge points for having a genuine, heartfelt performance. No doubt the lyrics of this ballad really captured the heart of the competition (unless you’re a producer and it’s all about the biggest moneymaker).
Celebrity sightings:

Constantine, Denise Richards, Rick Schroeder, Marlee Matlin, “Alex Karev”, Jennifer Hudson, kids cast from “So you think you’re smarter than a 5th grader?”, Kathy Griffin, and…

Chris Daughtry gets his American Idol Finale performance! Did you recognize anyone else that I missed?

Who do you think will win??? Be sure to lock in your vote below! I’ll be happy if either one wins

By TVJunkie Jenn | 2 Comments »
Filed under: American Idol, Blake Lewis, Jordin Sparks

Barry Gibb Night

(Click the idol talk button to see more reviews!)

Melinda
“Love You Inside and Out”
Good performance, not my favorite. It was just lacking the typical Melinda “Yo” factor.

Blake
“You Should Be Dancing”
Blake sure is having fun during this performance. I wonder if it’s that echo feature they have going. The Music just cut off Simon again. (ROFL)

LaKisha
“Staying Alive”
So good to see some personality from LaKisha.

[DH just asked me what I thought of the night so far and I stated that I was having difficulty finding things to write... (deep breath) Five more performances...]

Jordin
“To Love Somebody”
I thought the vocals from the practice session were better than Jordin’s actual performance. Even though she was a little under the melody, it was still a good performance.

Melinda
“How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”
How funny (cute funny) she was in her footage with Barry. I think it’s smart not to sing lyrics about missing home or leaving. [When I heard Phil sing "I'm going down- in a blaze of glory" last week, I knew he'd be going home. At least he sang it well.] Better 2nd performance from Melinda. Not as exciting as other weeks, but technically sound.

Blake
“This is Where I Came In”
Interesting funky beat in the background. This is the first song of the night that I got into, but I was distracted by the left shoulder of his sweater… Sad, I know. But did you see how the argyle ‘ended’?

LaKisha
“Run to Me”
At least no shouting so far She showed a lot of control in the verses. I’m guessing because she was hoarse.

Jordin
“Woman in Love”
Great song selection for Jordin. I don’t think it was “pagent-y”; I thought Jordin was going for classy. It was a good color on her and didn’t require double-stick tape like previous contestants.

Best vocals (non-pitchy) of the night: Melinda

Best performance of the night: Jordin

Can we just skip to the finale??!! Barry Gibb may be a legend in his own right, but performances of current music seem to be more appealing. Another night like tonight and I might fall into a deep sleep… … …

I think tonight’s contestants did as best as they could with their song choices tonight. I did the best with the recap, although, it might be quite unexciting.

Did you enjoy this post?

By TVJunkie Jenn | 2 Comments »
Filed under: American Idol, Blake Lewis, Jordin Sparks, Lakisha Jones, Melinda Doolittle

Bon Jovi week

(Click the idol talk button to see more reviews!)

I enjoy the master class sessions and seeing the artist coaching the idol hopefuls. You get to see a side that you don’t see on stage or in music videos. I’ve never been a huge fan of Bon Jovi, but I grew up with their music (and their big hair) and had many memories pop into my thoughts.

Jon told the idols that they needed to “wrap their arms around the lyrics ’cause they all told stories to a lot of people”. I loved that statement. And, I guess I have enough memories around a couple of these songs for that statement to resonate true with me.

After a “bye” week in eliminations, the Idol hopefuls were singing for keeps tonight to make sure they weren’t part of this week’s double-elimination.

Phil
“Blaze of Glory”
Strong vocals for Phil. His confidence was soaring (must feel good to sing in front of an audience with a mic instead of a mirror with a comb ). He’s really singing to win this week. Decent outfit. Nice guy. Pretty wife. Still don’t see him as The Idol. Kind of like Elliot Yamin – I liked his singing, but couldn’t see him as the final contestant.

Jordin
“Living on a Prayer”
Nice guitarist bookends, but they couldn’t distract me from Jordin’s rough notes. I was really pulling for her, but she and the “3 needy children” were right – this was just a tough week for her. Maybe a big-hair, power ballad would have suited her voice better.

Lakisha
“This Ain’t a Love Song”
Better control with her vocals this week. Still felt a little robotic and disconnected at first, but one of her performances I’ve liked this season. Poor Simon always gets cut off, and he was trying to say something positive. Never thought he’d tell a contestant “Nice Lips” as part of his critique…

Blake
“You Give Love a Bad Name”
It was good to see the unique Blake personality that we all love! Especially after last week’s bland performance. The boy can rock out. Ingenious performance. I’m glad he did a total remix rather than a little beat-boxing for effect. He needed the total transformation to make his version work. Extra points to Simon for appreciating a complete remake of a song.

Chris
“Wanted Dead or Alive”
Okay performance; I was getting tired of the repetitious chorus at the end. My inner-teenager actually likes Chris (not the nasally Chris, but the Geek in the Pink Chris) and I’m afraid this performance wasn’t strong enough to compete this week.

Melinda
“Have a Nice Day”
Reminded me of Tina Turner with her rocking vocals, her confidence, her attitude and her strut across the stage. (I typed that before Randy mentioned Tina.) She certainly knows how to sell her performance.

Hey look, it’s even GW and Laura getting in on the American Idol action.

In last week’s poll, Lakisha (6 votes) and Chris R. (5 votes) were in the “bottom 2″. What are your thoughts this week?

By TVJunkie Jenn | 1 Comment »
Filed under: American Idol, Blake Lewis, Chris Richardson, Jordin Sparks, Lakisha Jones, Melinda Doolittle, Phil Stacey