It's country week on American Idol, which proved very interesting for some contestants tonight. I thought many would struggle but all in all, most everyone gave a decent performance. I am not very big on country, but there are a few songs I know thanks to cross-overs. Definitely not my favorite genre week that American Idol does, but it's not my least favorite, either. Let's get on with the critiques!
Phil started the show off first tonight. Maybe the producers put him up first so they could get through the misery right away. We all know that Phil is not going to be the American Idol. But I was rather surprised how well he did this week. He actually was decent with his song and did a nice job of leading the show off tonight. Maybe he'd do well with country afterall. SAFE
Jordin was up next and one thing you can expect with her is consistency. Week after week, she has been consistent no matter what the genre is. Tonight was no exception, in fact, I think she had the best vocal of the night. She did an AMAZING job with the song and you could really tell her performance was excellent when the crowd cheered and cheered when she was done. I really enjoyed the emotion she portrayed in the song, from very serious in the beginning to a glowing smile in the end. It's like she portrayed the emotion of the song from her facial expressions. Excellent performance. SAFE
Going third was Sanjaya and he is certainly NEVER consistent week after week. I thought maybe, just maybe he'd build on the momentum from last week where he actually sang half-way decent. Boy, was I wrong. Just as Randy desrcibed it, it was absolutely karaoke. He lacked confidence, it was very flat, and it was as if he had trouble staying on tune. I don't know why Sanjaya just can't sing decent for two weeks straight or at all. BOTTOM THREE
Lakisha was the performer that marked the mid-way point of the top seven. I thought she took a big risk when she picked Carrie Underwood's "Jesus Takes the Wheel," a former American Idol. And unfortunately, it did not work well for her at all. It was the wrong country song for her and I agreed with the judges whole heartedly in their remarks. After starting out very strong in this competition, she has struggled in recent weeks and she runs the risk of being eliminated here soon. BOTTOM THREE
Up next was Chris and once again, I was not blown away by his performance. I thought last week was better for him and this week's song started off with some pitch problems. I think Chris always does a decent job but never has the performance that really "wows" a person. This week was no difference, and it was probably one of his weakest in awhile. It wasn't a performance to remember, that's for sure. BOTTOM THREE
Melinda was up next and after an 0ff-week last time around, she does a much better job during country week. She picked the perfect song for her, which was an upbeat, happy song, and really delievered it well. A definite improvement over last week and it was a performance I enjoyed listening to. I had to agree with Simon's comments about her surprised reaction once her singing has concluded. Yes Melinda, you really are that good. Time to get over it. SAFE
Last but not least is Blake Lewis. What a way to end the night. Blake is another performer that has been rather consistent week after week no matter what the genre is. He sang a song that was even recognizable to me, "Where the Stars go Blue" sung by Tim McGraw on the country side, but also covered by the Corrs. A near flawless performance from Blake who solidified his place as one the top performers of this season. SAFE
So this week, Sanjaya, Lakisha, and Chris run the risk of being eliminated. When it comes down to it, I believe it will be Chris' week to leave. I don't believe he has done enough in recent weeks to strengthen his position in this year's competition. Don't get me wrong, I'd be more than thrilled to see Sanjaya go this week, but I think he'll stick around one more time before finally getting the boot next week. As we get closer and closer to the finale, Sanjaya's chances of sticking around get slimmer and slimmer.
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As a side note, I feel it's an appropriate time to discuss the horrific shooting incident at Virginia Tech University yesterday. I probably would not have discussed it in a blog posting until I made a sad discovery earlier today. I frequently visit a sports message board called motownsports.com. Although I am not an official member there, I visit it often to get caught up regarding the latest news on the Detroit Tigers. This forum covers all of the major sporting teams in the Detroit area. The most popular section of the forum is for the Tigers. One of the active members of this forum went by the name of estrepe1. His real name was Brian Bluhm, and happened to be one of the victims from this tragedy. He was 25 and a graduate student at VT and only needed a couple of weeks before he officially received his graduate's degree. But it was all for naught thanks to a senseless idiot who went on a rampage. Brian racked up over 35,000 posts on motownsports.com and was well known throughtout the Detroit Tigers on-line community. He sported an avatar of Hobbes from the old newspaper comic "Calvin and Hobbes" and always posted an animated image of Hobbes jumping up and down when the Tigers won during a game day thread on motownsports.com. Even though I did not directly know Brian and only knew him from his appearance at motownsports, I find myself connected to the tragedy in Virginia in some way. He didn't know me, but I knew of him which made it shocking to find out that he was one of the 32 victims of this tragedy. He had such an amazing future ahead of him and wound up being in the wrong place at the wrong time. RIP Brian. You will be missed for your excellent Tigers insight.
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