Idol Top 4 Report Card

It was Bee Gees night, with three females and one male, but, since a lot of the songs were originally sung in a falsetto, it didn't turn out too bad for the women.

I have a new favorite, now: Jordin Sparks. She can out-sparkle Melinda Doolittle, but Melinda is more consistent. If Jordin can consistently put in a top performance, she can win. Otherwise, it will be Melinda.

Here are my grades:

1. Melinda Doolittle, A
2. LaKisha Jones, B
3. Blake Lewis, B
4. Jordin Sparks, A

LaKisha and Blake are the most vulnerable. There are two other soul singers but only one guy, so LaKisha will see her votes split, not Blake. My prediction is LaKisha to go even though she's technically better than Blake. (Blake will go the next week unless Jordin has an off night.)

UPDATE: LaKisha and Blake were in the bottom 2, and LaKisha went. I'm having an easier time predicting now that Sanjaya had been voted off...

Idol Top 6 Report Card

This was Bon Jovi week, and the soul singers were at a big disadvantage. Luckily, they get to have last week's vote added to their total (from inspirational music week) and I think they'll all survive. Of the three, Jordin had a bad song pick, and Melinda showed how much of a pro she was. Simon liked LaKisha's singing, but I just didn't feel it.

Of the guys, Blake saved up his "fan service" for this week and, as a result, saved his skin for another week. Both Phil Stacey and Chris Richardson however did an inauthentic "karaoke" rendition that sounded too much like the original and not enough like themselves. By the way, I am now officially impressed about how good singer Bon Jovi was.

Here are my grades:

1. Phil Stacey, B
2. Jordin Sparks, C
3. LaKisha Jones, B
4. Blake Lewis, A
5. Chris Richardson, B
6. Melinda Doolittle, A

Jordin will stay on account of last week's performance. Phil and Chris will go, but perhaps LaKisha instead of Phil.

UPDATE: Called it right this time. It's gotten a lot saner now that the Sanjaya factor is not throwing a wrench into my calculations.

Idol Top 9 Report Card

I was on vacation so I skipped last week, but booting Gina Glocksen from the competition while retaining both Sanjaya and Haley was a travesty. I read that the producers were warning her that she risked losing middle America with her tongue stud, which is a shame since she had been growing the most in the competition.

Idol Top 10 Report Card

Gwen Stefani was the musical guest this week and the idolists had to pick her songs from her band, No Doubt, or from those who inspired her.

For the gospel singers, this meant Donna Summer, with Melinda Doolittle pulling it off, but LaKisha Jones not so much.

For two of the guys (Chris Sligh and Phil Stacey), this meant The Police, which reminds me how great of a singer Sting has been. Actually, Phil did pretty well and picked up some fans, as did Gina Glocksen.

Only three attempted No Doubt songs, resulting in the good (Chris Richardson), the bad (Jordin Sparks), and the ugly (Sanjaya Malakhar). Only Chris picked up fans with his effort, I think. Jordin is facing the difficulty of changing directions with her niche, and she may have alienated what fans she had.

The beatboxer Blake Lewis picked "Love Song" from The Cure, which was OK but he should have done some fan service (i.e. beatboxing) to make it interesting. Haley's problem is that she doesn't have a fan base and her rendition of "True Colors" did nothing to build it.

Here, then, is the report card:

1. LaKisha Jones, B
2. Chris Sligh, B
3. Gina Glocksen, A
4. Sanjaya Malakhar, C
5. Haley Scarnato, B
6. Phil Stacey, A
7. Melinda Doolittle, A
8. Blake Lewis, B
9. Jordin Sparks, B
10. Chris Richardson, B

My bottom three would be Sanjaya, Haley, and Jordin. If there's any justice, Sanjaya and his po(ny)-hawk hair finally goes.

RESULTS: 1/3. That's pretty poor. Of the bottom three, I only called Haley. The other two were Phil Stacey and Chris Sligh. Phil was safe and Chris was outta here.

Chris's problem, though he had the nicest of the male voices, was that his lurching from one obscure song to another never managed to define a niche that could build a fan base. When he finally picked a song that people knew, it was the last straw.

Idol Top 11 Report Card

This week was 60s British invasion putting the gospel singers at a disadvantage. This turned out to be the first time LaKisha Jones had an off-performance, but one still better than most of the others. Overall, the performances have been getting better, with only Sanjaya being painful to watch.

At any rate, here is the report card:

1. Haley Scarnato, A
2. Chris Richardson, B
3. Stephanie Edwards, A
4. Blake Lewis, B
5. LaKisha Jones, B
6. Phil Stacey, B
7. Jordin Sparks, A
8. Sanjaya Malakhar, C
9. Gina Glocksen, B
10. Chris Sligh, A
11. Melinda Doolittle, A

I'm guessing that the bottom three would be Sanjaya, Phil, and Gina, with Sanjaya getting the boot.

RESULTS: I was completely wrong. The bottom two were Stephanie Edwards and Chris Richardson, with poor Stephanie getting the boot. She was a great talent, but perhaps there were too many great singers in her niche (LaKisha Jones, Melinda Doolittle, even Jordin Sparks) to stand out.

Idol Top 12 Report Card

It was Diana Ross night for the American Idol contestants, putting the already lackluster boys at a disadvantage. Their goal is survival with the least damage. Perhaps the shrewdest tactic was by Blake "Beatboxer" Lewis, who, knowing that he will pale by comparison to the original, did some fan service by funking it up with an electronic beat.

At any rate, here's my report card for the twelve perfomances:

1. Brandon Rogers, C
2. Melinda Doolittle, A
3. Chris Sligh, B
4. Gina Glocksen, B
5. Sanjaya Malakhar, C
6. Haley Scarnato, B
7. Phil Stacey, B
8. LaKisha Jones, A
9. Blake Lewis, B
10. Stephanie Edwards, A
11. Chris Richardson, B
12. Jordin Sparks, A

Either Brandon or Sanjaya should go; the other will be lucky to survive the next week.

UPDATE (3/14): Bottom three was Brandon, Sanjaya, and Phil. Phil was safe, so I called the bottom two. Brandon was eliminated.

Idol Predictions for Final Round of 12

Of the boys, Blake Lewis, Chris Richardson, Chris Sligh, and Phil Stacey should make through it to the final round of 12. Of the four remaining, the weakest are Sanjaya Malakar and Sundance Head, though neither Brandon Rogers nor Jared Cotter are completely out of danger. Predictions: Sanjaya and Sundance out.

Of the girls, Antonella Barba and Haley Scarnato are the two weakest and should go. All the remaining girls are very strong, the most vulnerable of which are Gina Glocksen and Jordin Sparks, and they're still better than the boys.

((Wrench in the works: Vote for the Worst is plugging for Sundance and Antonella. If this campaign is able to spoil the voting, I'd expect to see Brandon take Sundance's rightful place, and Jordin Sparks to take Antonella's.))

RESULTS: 2 out of 4. I was right about Sundance and Antonella; both of them sang their swan songs better than earlier in the week, indicating that they were actually decent singers but yet unable to handle the pressure of competition. The big shocker was Sabrina Sloan's going instead of Haley Scarnato. I didn't see that one coming. Less shocking, but still disappointing, was the survival of Sanjaya, with Jared (not Brandon) being the guy to go home.

Oh well, next week the people most in danger remain Sanjaya and Haley, but we'll see how the singing changes it. So far, the best singers looks like LaKisha Smith and Melinda Doolittle. It's hard to imagine at this point one of the guys making it to the final two.