American Idol Week 2
 

Phil
Let me begin by saying his intro was boring. Well, that and his navy buddies look pretty gay. Sang I Ain’t Missing You made famous by the great Tina Turner. I noticed the Phil quite obviously avoided one of the original’s huge notes, and I was a bit disappointed by that. I think that if he were going to choose a song like that, he should have gone for it. All things considered, it was a good vocal however.

Original Score: 7.5 phone-in votes
Creepy Head Deduction: -0.5 phone-in votes
Final Score: 7.0 phone-in votes

Jared
His intro told us that his mom woke him up to tell him about the American Idol audition. What he didn’t tell us is to not forget that he’s 25 years old and that there is a good chance that she didn’t tell him to help him out, but to try to remind him that he’s a 25 year old living with his mom and that she’d sort of like her house back. With that said, I found his version of Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On to be vocally acceptable but uninspiring. It had Jordan and me singing Let’s Kick Him Off. I’m boooooooooooooored.

Original Score: 6.5 phone-in votes
Atrocious Eyebrow Deduction: -0.5 phone-in votes
Final Score: 6.0 phone-in votes

AJ
The way he acts and the way he moves is basically your run of the mill guy dancing on a box in the middle of a gay bar in the Castro district in San Francisco. The photograph of his father looked like Ray Romano. With that said, God I want to hate him. I can’t. I think his vocal was a little confusing at times, but all in all he’s been one of the very few people who has managed to put two good weeks together. My disdain for him is slowly wearing off. Needs a bit more to actually compete for the title, but a few more good weeks like his will get him near the top.

Final Score: 8.5 phone-in votes

Sanjaya
More like SanGAYa. Get your conductor hats on, the Queer Train just rolled into Idolwood. He’s a mess in every way, and I’m hoping the teen/Indian/closeted gay votes stop rolling in for him. The thing is that all of the notes are there, but there is nothing behind them. He’s either timid or there is just nothing more there. He managed to pull together a few notes late in the song, but nothing nearly convincing to keep him around, based on talent at least.

Original Score: 4.5 phone-in votes
Wardrobe Deduction: -1.0 phone-in votes
Final Score: 3.5 phone-in votes

Chris S.
Lispy. Unremarkable, but good enough obviously to get him by. I thought that he was off of the tune of the song yet again, but he was not mindblowing in any regard. As I have little to say about him, it was not overly memorable in any way though.

Final Score: 7.5 phone-in votes

Nick
Noticed that in his intro that he mentioned that he and his girlfriend had been together for “quite awhile,” which in decoded terms is "ballpark, four months.” His voice fit the song perfectly. Randy said it was good for him to get back to his “smoky” voice and I agree completely. Not inspiring, but without a doubt certainly good enough vocally to get him back for another round next week.

Final Score: 7.5 phone-in votes

Blake
I wish Pmayjr was watching, as Blake sang Jamiroquai’s Virtual Insanity. His little bit of originality in the middle was a breath of fresh air in the middle of this episode. I think he was better last week, but he could do just about anything and still get voted into next week’s show. One of the night’s better performances.

Final Score: 8.0 phone-in votes

Brandon
I love that he made the phrasing of such an oversung song all his own. However, he went downhill from the audition to the Hollywood round. And he’s gone downhill once again from the Hollywood round until now. His vocals were all over the place. The final note was an ear killer. Loved that Simon mentioned (after Brandon’s shameless plug for his Dad’s birthday [who incidentally was wearing the SAME OUTFIT as A.J. earlier in the episode!]) that he wanted to wish his mother a Happy Birthday in November, and that he likes puppies. Finest moment of the show. Back to singing….not very good for a guy who can sing much better than most here.

Final Score: 6.0 phone-in votes

Chris R.
I still can’t shake the feeling that “home” is a trailer park. Oh well. He calls his white grandmother “big mamma.” He is stacking up strikes left and right here. With that said, I wish he would stop bouncing when he sang and just stuck with the singing. Really. During the performance, many may have overlooked when Antonella gave him the “did you see my pics on the web” look? Voice was spot-on. Simon loved him, I’m not sold, but I’m convinced that he was in the top half for sure tonight.

Final Score: 7.0 phone-in votes

Sundance
In his intro he told us, “I honestly never thought I’d get this far in the competition.” Yeah, you’re telling me ,Sundance. I like the backup singers more. Honestly, I love the one on the right. The judges liked him tonight, but I was not impressed insofar as I was unable to remember much of it other than how MUCH I LOVED the backup singer on the right in the blue. Jordan told me during his performance, “I like him. I really do.” I slapped him in the face. I would love nothing more than to see Sundance voted off next week. Though let’s keep the backup singer, because she’s still the only thing I remember about his performance….that’s how unimpressed I was.

Final Score: 6.0 phone-in votes



The night's best:
AJ
Blake

The ones I would be choosing between for elimination Thursday night, based on tonight's performances:
Jared
Sangaya
Brandon
Sundance

funny Brian, good recap though. A bit detailed, you put more time on this field than a tough Hawthorne card.:)

BTW, I had Jared at a -.75 for the creepy eyebrow deduction. Overall better performances from the guys this week.

I have these guys in the upper tier:
Nicholas, to me the smokey sound really worked

Blake, this kid is talented and original, great song choice that he made his own. did Jamiroquai proud. think this guy is around for the finals.

Chris S, I just like this guy and I think he's very talented and funny. i see him hosting a talk show or game show.

AJ, he's okay, good voice.

Chris R, better than most.

Bottom:
Sanjaya and Sundance are in the runoff for who has to go. My feeling is that its Sanjaya. That guy is more feminine than his sister and not blowing anyone away vocally.

Tomorrow: The return of Antonella!!! This is really must see TV.

Hey Brian, That might be one of the funniest things I have every read. First of all, I don't watch the intros. I tivo the show and fast foward through all the crap. Except when Antonella is on.(I would watch her raed the newspaper for an hour). You are spot on with your re-cap. AJ is a very good singer, but watching him prance around the stage like Tinkerbell is very disturbing! The Phil song, was a John Waite song, I do not know if Tina sang it first, but anyway he sucked until the end of the song. As far as Brandon goes, any guy who sings a Cyndi Lauper song, show be tossed as automatically! Sanjaya had one of the worst performances in television history, if he makes it this week we are in BIG BIG trouble. How anyone could vote for that is beyond me.(unless you are into teenage sissy Indian boys, then I fully understand). I thought the ghetto Justin Timberlake,( I think his name is Chris) was the best of the night. Blake, Sideshow Bob(Chris S.) and Sundance were also ok. Nick was very boring! But in the long run I am sure the girls will blow them away again tonight. I just think the guys are really not that good!

I'd just like to know how many notepads you go through in a year watching American Idol.

Seriously, I've been a big fan of the show since it's first season. I gotta tell you, and I know it's opinion, but you missed Sundance big time....he was hands down the best one of the night. I don't think he has the appeal to go very far, but from a vocal perspective, he was hands down the best....

I think it's a shame that they have to get down to 6 girls......cuz I think there are probably 9 girls that are better than any of the guys.

Looks like save Samarta's love affair with Sundance, most of us saw most of the performances the same way.

Samarta, there were things to like about Sundance for sure. I think that it is more a consequence of another relatively lackluster night for the guys that made anything about his performance any good. I'm sure that my bias against everything about him colors my impression a bit, but I honestly can tell that outside of what song he sang, I can't tell you anything else about his performance. I was so bored and so unengaged that I just couldn't stop thinking about the backup singer. The vocal does nothing if I have stopped paying attention to you because I'm falling asleep.

On a sidenote -- I run through about 1-1.5 8.5x11 notepad sheets per episode. I take short notes during the show about a variety of things and then transfer them into little vignettes online right after I watch the episode.

Can't wait for the girls tonight, I missed most of them last week because of a cable issue, so I'm looking forward to getting full songs out of them, and ridiculing Leslie Hunt with everything I can muster.

Samarta, Sundance was much better last night, probably the best performance you'll see from him. But far and away the best of the night?
Not by me. I think he survives this week but not much longer.

But last year I had Taylor Hicks all wrong also. I had him leaving almost every week and he ended up winning the whole damn thing so what do I know.

Brian, way to get into it, thats hard core.
"On a sidenote -- I run through about 1-1.5 8.5x11 notepad sheets per episode. I take short notes during the show about a variety of things and then transfer them into little vignettes online right after I watch the episode."

I can't help it. It's my way of remembering why I like people and why I don't. It also makes it more fun for me, since I don't vote -- this is my backhanded way of getting my say!

Brian,


1. Agree with your assessment of Phil. But I did like him. It wasn't bad, but not great, but I do think he is improving. He actually started the song better this week.

2. Jared is better this week than last week. He actually shocked me with his vocals this week. I wasn't expecting him to be as good as he was.

3. AJ. I am sorry my negativity towards him didn't weaken in the least this week. I tried to listen to him and his voice, BUT he is just tooooooooo gay for me. No offense to gays, I have nothing against being gay. He is just to feminine for my taste. I like a guy to be a guy.

4. Sanjaya- If this dude doesn't go home, I will be very angry this week.

5. Chris S.- Redeemed himself to me a bit this week. I didn't like him attacking Simon last week. But honestly I didn't know he was married and I loved that he dedicated the song and performance to his wife. Those two actually make a very cute couple. His vocals were very good last night. I would say he was #2 last night.

6. Nick-what can I say about this dude? I don't like him. He sounds to nasaly to me. Didn't like it at all. I think he and Sanjaya need to pack their bags.

7. Blake- Honestly, I thought he was "so-so" last night. I didn't really like him but I didn't hate him either. He has to do more to win me over. I actually really liked him after Hollywood, but he has become boring IMO.

8. Brandon-JESUS WILL THESE AMERICAN IDOLS STOP SINGING CYNDI LAUPER? That is one of my all time fave songs. Anyone other than Cyndi butchers it!

9. Chris R. What can I say? I have a little crush. I like that he is from a very modest background. Who cares if he is from a trailer park. I LOVE BIG MAMMA! (hee hee maybe I am a little biased as my old german shepard mix was nicknamed "big mamma") But vocally, last night Chris was the best.

10. Sundance-Hasn't won me over yet. But I do like the guy. He is humble and did improve this week.

My top four (and yes, I did vote for these four):
Chris R.
Chris S.
Sundance
Phil


Bottom Four:
Sanjaya
Nick
AJ
Brandon

This is just my opinion.

Same with me, I have never voted. So talking about it is my only outlet for opinion.

Would love to know the demographics of the people who do vote. My guess is that it leans strongly female.

Buffy,
I trust your signature refers to Buchepalus.:)

YEP. My fave line from The Black Stallion... :D

That line also always stuck out in my mind, as well as that whole scene when they were playing poker on the ship. I thought Hoyt Axton was really good as the father even though he was in the movie so briefly.
ahhh, what a movie??

I want them to make a movie out of EVERY Walter Farley book! The second and third movie were not as good as the first one, but I would like to see a "Son of the Black Stallion" movie. Would love to see a horse named "SATAN" run in a race.

AJ:

I voted for one person ever on American Idol and that was Vonzell because I thought she was up against it with Carrie and Bo two seasons back so I voted for her in the round of the final three.

But I DO vote faithfully for Nashville Star, which has the season finale this week, because they're actual musicians for the most part :)

Buffy -- Take my comments with a grain of salt -- like the trailer park one. He just seems trashy to me. I actually think that he's balancing precariously close to the border of being gimmicky with his inane bouncing and faux stage presence. He's really going to have to do something special...and that was not it.

You are entitled to your opinion. No skin off my nose if you don't like him. He really is just doing what they have told him to do. Act like Justin Timberlake. (And surprizingly enough, I don't like Justin)

Is it too late to install a fountain on the AI stage?

Not sure what she will wear. It would be a shame if all the surrounding controversy ends up getting her down and effecting her performance. I for one hope that she is able to suck it up, step up to the mike, and belt out a good one.

AbFab BWS.. What else is there to say!

Doing for Idol coverage on DT what Our Man Joey did to the Saratoga Summer...

Does anyone think, that Seacrest will ask her how her week has been? Or will they just keep quiet about the incident.

I think a joke or two will be made....

I guess I just can't see them bringing it up.

How exactly do you approach that on FOX? How exactly do you ask a girl whose name has been smeared over the internet this week, what she thinks about the fact that pictures of her giving head to a slightly chubby dude ended up on the internet?

And then make her sing.........

Have they checked to make sure Sanjaya is a guy?

It becomes more and more ambiguous every week.

Does that mean this thread is headed for the Charles Hatton reading room?

or will there be a whole separate section titled,
"American Idol - A handicappers perspective on season six"

That just made me laugh out loud a bit here at work!

I'm thinking we should start a different thread for each week, because at the rate we're all talking about it, everyone's reactions to each week will get completely lost in the middle of a huge thread. Does that make sense?

And fyi, I think you've just created the new thread title going forward :D

We'll need a new thread each week I think, otherwise it will get too huge. There is just so much material here. :)

Would Lakisha be defined as early speed?

Brian,

to each his own I suppose...I think if Sundance picks the right songs he could be this years Daughtry...but if he strays he's done.....

I tried my best to be stingy with the votes here, but these girls are just heads and shoulders above their male counterparts. I’ll be shocked if a female doesn’t win American Idol this year.

Gina
Her dress matched her hair, which in itself is admittedly a little cute. I liked her song choice, but as far as the vocal went I didn’t really care one way or another. She was good after the first fifteen seconds, but she doesn’t get me crazy in any way -- good or bad.

Final Score: 7.0 phone-in Votes

Alaina
She started out incredibly. The entire performance was nothing but downhill from the first twenty seconds. I was hoping to be surprised after she started out so well, but there were no fireworks after the opening. Just duds.

Final Score: 6.0 phone-in Votes

Lakeisha (aka Keke J according to our local news interview with her!)
Her grandma is positively adorable and has a little crush on Ryan Seacrest. As expected, she was formidable. I don’t think she was as good as last week, honestly. The good thing for her, is she can show up with a “bad” week and still be in the top three girls at this point in the competition. Oh wait, I wrote all of that before she finished. Just kidding, I take it all back. I love Keke J.

Final Score: 9.0 phone-in votes

Melinda
I loved her story and the background about her best friends, her “Gails,” and the audition wardrobe booklet they assembled for her to let her know what to wear for each successive audition. I didn’t think I loved the song choice at the beginning. I loved everything else. Without a doubt, the best performance of the elimination rounds so far. Flawless.

Final Score: 10.0 phone-in votes

Antonella
Well, we don’t need to worry about her singing performances speaking for themselves anymore. They’re doing a fine job. She’s the female Sanjaya, by which I mean, just as awful. It’s as if there is a tool of some sort in her mouth (!!) that somehow automatically makes every note that comes out of her mouth warbly and off-pitch. As a gesture of mercy, I give her one phone-in vote tally for each note that she actually hit during her entire performance. Also known as, five.

Final Score: 5.0 phone-in votes

Jordin
So cute. So cute. So cute. She’s been my favorite from the auditions. I fell in love with her the second she opened her mouth in Seattle. With that said, this song was a huge test for her. I think she passed with flying colors. She is an incredible vocalist for someone her age. Hell, she is an incredible performer for someone of any age. Great performance in every aspect.

Final Score: 9.5 phone-in votes

Stephanie
So cute pt. II. She strayed a bit in her big note in the middle of the song. Obviously she is one of the best talents in here; she’s got a huge voice. Plus, she’s going to get Jordin’s extra votes because Jordin can’t figure out how to make “six” with her fingers and made “seven” once. Stephanie is a contender in this competition in every sense of the word.

Final Score: 9.0 phone-in votes

Leslie

Dear Leslie,
I hate that you remind me of my old roommate in Portland, you know, the stupid hipster one with all of her stupid hipster friends and their stupid hipster haircuts and stupid hipster dancing. I hate your weird hair. I hate the weird way your jaw moves. I hate your wardrobe choices. I hate the sound of your voice. I hate that weird drunken end-run thing you did. I hate that you sang the same song as AJ did last night. I hate everything about you really.

xo,
Brian W. Spencer

Final Score: “The Mark of the Barba” 5.0 phone-in votes

Haley
If you showed me a picture of Haley Scarnato and asked me, “is this one of the American Idol finalists or that girl from the Price is Right last week who bid $11 on a box of chicken Rice-A-Roni?” I would have been legitimately stumped. With that said, I like this imposter’s song choice, and the vocal was acceptable. Ok.

Final Score: 6.5 phone-in votes

Sabrina
She’s consistent. I don’t love her last note that wobbled around a bit. She’ll be good enough to potentially sneak into the top 12, but without dramatic improvement in the personality department, she’s not going to be your winner by a longshot.

Final Score: 7.5 phone-in votes

I agree for the most part...Melinda's performance was off the charts...absolutely took my breath away! Lakeisha sang one of my favorite songs and remains the favorite I guess, Jordin keeps getting better and better!

It was really something, huh? I remember how when she started signing I was a bit dissappointed, sort of like "oh brother, are you kidding me with that song?!"

I was so wrong. It was a 10 all the way!

Once again, It comes down to Lakisha, Melinda (who I think looks like Bookman from Good Times with long hair), Jordin (My favorite and longshot pick), Stephanie and Sabrina. Goodbye Leslie (sorry Brian) and Haley. Antonella and Alaina get by for at least one more week on thier looks. As far as Gina she was ok, but not even in the same ball park as when Carrie sang the same song 2 years ago! But it's a matter of time for her also.

Why sorry about Leslie?! I'll pack her bags myself if I don't have to see her again.

And Jordin is my favorite, period. I think that with every week she is going to get more and more votes because she keeps getting better and better. And she's adorable!

You men are CRAZY! I agree the black girls in this competition are tops. But do you honestly think that Antonella sings better than Leslie? COME ON!

I am in no way shape or form think Leslie is better than the top five but I think she is better than the rest of them. Atleast she has a unique voice. I am not a huge fan, but I do think she belongs in the top 6 girls. And one thing I do want to see. I want to hear her sing Cher. Her voice reminds me of Cher.

Melinda was #1 last night. HANDS DOWN. I think it is going to come down to Lakisha and Melinda.

I'm with you, but being better than Leslie doesn't say much. It just makes her second-worst.

So even if these guys are right and my ears stopped working, Antonella is still just dead weight going into tonight's elimination, whether she gets through on her looks or not.

I don't know who made that claim, but I certainly don't think so.

I like Leslie, and I put her first in line behind some of the more obvious talents. I rate her as high as sixth.

OK then. I agree. She is 6th. I still want to hear her to belt out "If I could turn back time"