American Idol...you know you are watching!

I'm pretty much with you, with a few switcharounds for some names.

Lisa and Elliot bore me to death. Lisa especially, they likened her to doing a school musical and that's exactly what it was. All she had to do was dig her fingertips into her dimples. Basically she's been a princess all her life, which means she has no idea how to truly "live" and emote through the lyrics that come out of her mouth. Hitting notes with a good tone isn't a performance.

Maybe in about 5-10 years when she's been dumped hard by a few boyfriends, lost a job, been rear-ended in a traffic accident, had a major death in the family, been stabbed in the back by a close friend - maybe her persona will, in the end, mature enough to sell those vocals and that cutie-pie visage will morph into confident depth.

Elliot was coached on how to feel his words by Barry Manilow - and did he do it? No. He has the same two facial expressions, same physical stance, same mic stand, same outfits, every week.

Chris will win. Taylor will linger but his style of singing is unlikely to get him voted into the top 3, I feel. Mandisa is going to have to fight to beat out Katharine/Paris, but if the US is as desparate for a rock star as I think they are, she could outsing Aretha Franklin and still not win.

I think Paris and Katharine are tied, not Paris and Kelly Pickler. Paris has a fabulous stage presence, and occasionally misjudges in her performances. Exact same issue for Katharine. Both have slight handicaps in their singing - Katharine goes very sharp and can't get out of it, but still sounds and looks good. Paris goes soft and raspy when she's not singing alto, but still looks good and has attitude.

Kelly Pickler's eyes were like dead seal eyes when she sang last week. All that makeup didn't help. Her winning game is her bubbly personality, which she totally squashed until after her song. She will be the first to leave out of the top players.

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life without movies is like cereal without milk. possible, but disgusting. but not nearly as bad as cereal with water. don't lie. I know you've done it.

Just a little reminder to watch it tonight. I hope tonight's show is better than last weeks....and that someone is coaching them this week on song selection. Last week's performances were pretty painful to watch. The highlight was watching Randy and Simon tackle Paula's fawning over Ace's scar.

I was very surprised that Katherine was in the bottom two. If it were up to me, it would have been Ace sweating it out with Lisa. Do you think they show or powers that be were just trying to give Katherine a wake up call or do you really think she just didn't pull in the votes? It's kind of hard to believe she had the second lowest number of votes.

I like Katharine but I thought she sounded off with that Christina Aguilera song. Some people think Katharine is stuck up, that might explain the low vote count.

I'm really ready for Ace to go. He should have gone before Kevin. I thought Taylor was all style and little substance before last week. But he stood at the mike, didn't jump around or do his Cocker impersonation and sang the song with passion and quality. Now I'm a Taylor fan. My wife adores him BTW.

Tonight is a country theme and if Chris does the rock screaming again, he may be in trouble. Ok, we like the rock thing but what else have you got? Kellie and Bucky are definitely in the drivers seat tonight. It will be interesting to see how Mandisa, Paris and Elliot do. Katharine should be fine with country.

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My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.

I never liked katherine, but last week, I tell you she did a damn good job. I would much rather hear her sing that song than Christina Agul...blah blah (can't even spell it lol)

Taylor should not have worn what he did last week..as Simon calls it the "Clay Aiken look" lol He needs to go back to his crazy suits!

I am not a fan of country and I will probably be covering my ears most of the night. I just hope to god they throw in some Johnny Cash or even Willie Nelson.

Mandisa was voted off... that is bullsh!t!!!!!! I thought Elliot should have been the one to go. oh well...

I was in disbelief last night when Mandisa was voted off. Since it was down to her or Elliot leaving...I wish it had been boring Elliot. I agree this past tuesday wasn't her best performance...but even at her worst she was and still is still better than Ace, Bucky or Kelly. I just don't get it. Was is her song choice? It's just a sad shame. I wish Mandisa much luck in the future.

I want Ace to go next.


I thought so too (when she sang Christina's song). As much as I like Katherine...I've heard similar opinions about her. My best friend doesn't care for her at all.

Aside from the contestants...I wish Ryan Seacrest would stop with the smarmy digs towards Simon Cowell. He's looking very childish and full of himself. Someone needs to slap him.

mandisa should have been in the top 4. it's an example of people not voting when they should, so the teenyboppers get the votes. the teenyboppers love paris and ace. :P

ryan seacrest is resting on his audience laurels. they used to really hate simon but now i think they realize he's the only one who gives cohesive, concise, constructive responses.

paula loves everyone (and that solves nothing), will only give a slight "you coulda done better" if the person was awful. randy has three variations on the same phrase "uh, i dunno, dawg, it was just aight for me, ya know?" those three can all mean, it was below par, it was so-so, it was pretty good. so unless he says "that was hot" you have no idea if you were really good or just pretty good and could have done better ... etc.

yeah, elliott's boring. i dunno why they picked him over mandisa. sigh.

PS - re Katharine, I know what it is to be pigeonholed because you're confident, and people assume you're stuck up. there were definite scenes where katharine's in the background being friendly and utterly goofy with the other contestants. but when she is on stage or in front of a mic, she switches to "performance mode."

it's confidence, not arrogance, because she has studied music and performance for years, and is comfortable in the venue. she is not playing the baby (paris), she is not grateful (taylor/elliot), and she is not pulling on your sympathy strings (ace). i think because she is young people are offended, but age shouldn't matter if you have the experience. compare her behavior to mandisa's - you're not going to find a big difference there. it's just ok for mandisa because mandisa is older.

Next week they sing music by Queen....I am definately excited about this! Queen is one of my favorite bands!!! Who wants to make a bet that someone attempts Bohemian Rhapsody? I doubt anyone could pull it off the way Suzie did on Rock Star INXS!! (did anyone catch that??)

Gummo...to tell you the truth, I'm not really lookng forward to everyone being forced to perform Queen tonight. I dunno...maybe because the past two weeks have been so disappointing and I'm wondering how someone like Taylor will fair with their music. I wish they had picked a decade of music instead. Hopefully, I'll be pleasantly surprized tonight.

Yep. I agree with your take on everyone. I think Paula was good during the first part of the competition as a buffer for Simon's harsh remark's. But now she's playing the cheerleader ( I can understand her wanting to be encouraging...but even in diplomatic terms she rarely says anything helpful) and Simon is the voice you respect.

I see your point and I'll have to point that out to my friend the next time I hear her say something negative. Unfortunately, I think what my friend usually makes comments about is the look Katherine sometimes gives the camera and the fact that she went to the same school as Ace and Constantine. Because of this, plus the strutting, my friend views Kat in the same light as Ace and Constantine, which isn't fair...but we all interpret things differently. Personally, I think her look is more direct and almost challenging in a playful way and not trying to do the Ace sexy thing. I'll have to notice Kat in the sidelines and point out her demeanor to my friend tonight.

Anyway...let me know how you liked the performances tonight.

Queen night, could have been a disaster but turned out pretty well. Even the ones I thought would be weak did better than expected. And one who should have excelled was a disappointment.

First, Ace...I've been dissing Ace for weeks but he did ok tonight. He almost sounded like a rocker.

Kellie...what could be more scary than Kellie doing Bohemian Rhapsody? The funny thing is, she pulled it off. This girl is not dumb and she has elephant balls.

Chris...here's where I'm gonna catch it. He was the worst of the night. Simon was right, he could have picked a legendary Queen song and rocked the house. Instead he picks the crappy Inuendo and does his usual scream/singing. This should have been Chris' night and it wasn't.

Bucky...Mr consistency. Bucky could record albums in one take. He's not the most exciting but he's consistent. And he has a very good Southern Rock voice.

Katharine...Like Simon said, it was almost a moment. I always have the feeling Katharine is going to be great but she never quite delivers. Something is always a little off.

Paris...I can't stand the squeaky girl voice but there's no denying she's a powerhouse singer. She's confident, she's at home on stage and she can sing. Now if she was just more likable.

Elliot...Probably the best male vocalist but not an exciting performer.

Taylor...How can anyone not like Taylor? He picked the perfect song and was entertaining to watch.

Paris, Ace and Kellie were better than expected. Chris was worse than expected. Katharine, Elliot, Taylor and Bucky did what I expected. There's still no clear winner. There's no Kelly/Justin or Ruben/Clay who you know will be finalists.

It was a nice surprise that the show wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I think Taylor was wise in changing his song to what he did and was one of the best last night. I liked Elliot too.

What's happening to Chris? Why on earth did he choose that song? Isn't there someone advising them? Someone...even Queen themselves could have guided him to a better song choice. Gahhhh!! It's almost as if he peeked so early in the competition that instead of growing and sounding better he's hit a plateau and he's climbing down.

Now that I'm on a rant...i hated the eyeliner on Chris last night. He doesn't need that gimilky crap. And, I hate seeing Paris week after week being dressed like a barbie doll in a look that doesn't work for her. Oher than being ok, I don't remember much of her performance last night...but I do remember her Rocky Horror Picture show get-up. She's too talented to hide behind some image that's so plastic. End of rant.

Taylor made me f-ing laugh last night! He was so awesome!!!!! I loved the microphone stand kick!!! hahaha I dunno about Simon though, he asked if he was drunk, I would have assumed he was on Speed or something lol. But Taylor would have my vote! He is a sexy eccentric funny dude and I would go see his concerts and buy all his albums!!! He is frickin awesome! Not many people can make me feel that happy and give me a full body orgasm just watching them through the tv!!!

Well, to each his or her own... I thought Simon was right, he did seem drunk. I caught most of the show last night - probably my first real time watching an American Idol show that wasn't the finale - I didn't think that guy, Taylor, was all that great. But that Paris woman who went after him... I have a feeling she'll be gone tonight.

Well Bucky was voted off. I thought he performed better than Ace...I guess it's those teeniebopper's keeping him in.

I liked seeing the warm and fuzzy piece on all the contestants last night....and the clothes and make-up was much better too. Katherine looked gorgeous and Paris looked more age appropriate and sweet. Yay!

Next week....Rod Stewart, which should be very interesting.

That sucks. I thought Bucky was kinda cute.

:eek I hate Rod Stewart! lol But I'll watch anyway hehe

BWAHAHAHAH ... i think she pulled it off too. but she's not gonna be a big star, alas. she has elephant cojones but not an elephant-sized talent.

yeah, chris should have known better. simon is on the ball when he says "indulgent" for paris and chris. they are powerhouses and because they keep getting praised by randy and paula they keep making stupid choices. you haven't won yet so you basically should act like you could still lose and make every song a song chosen for the competition, not for you.

um, bucky sucked. sorry!

i actually think paris was consistent - i don't mind her costume changes, they reflect her personalty, her capacity to be a chameleon and put on a show (what every star performer needs), and I think she actually pulls them off. she's performing, not walking down the street, so i think they're entirely okay outfits.

I've been out of the loop on American Idol recently, well since they moved to the big stage. I keep missing it.

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thmilin...where have you been?

Wow...what a great show last night. Everyone did really well....even Ace who is my least favorite. And eventhough Kellie got ahead of herself towards the end of her song, her little personality made up for it while Ryan interviewed her.

My favorites last night were...

Paris singing "These Foolish Things". I love her in this style of music! I hope she continues with it. She was fabluous!

Katharine singing "Someone to watch over me". Wow...she sounded great and looked amazing. I voted for her three times.

Taylor singing "You Send Me". He was adorable and sounded better than he has in weeks.

I missed Chris's performance though. I didn't make it back in time from the grocery store.
Did anyone see him? How did do?

After a couple of weeks of disappointing shows, last night more than made up for it. Very exciting to see. It will be intersting to see who gets voted off tonight. Rod Stewart will be performing too.




Rev....can you tape the show or have someone tape it for you? After tonight there will be only 6 performers left. It's going to be very interesting from here on out. What keeping you from seeing it?

I keep forgetting!

Right I'm going to book it and series link it. So that even if I forget I'll have it recorded.
Of course if I remember to actually do it when I think of doing, like I've not been doing. Shucks.