recap: idol bids adieu to lakisha

adios, kiki! well, just as i suspected, lakisha was voted off of american idol last night. but before we get into that, other highlights from last night's show:

- ryan seacrest doing man on the street interviews.
- pink's pre-taped performance finally makes it to air.
- a "let's meet the contestants" type of segment. cuteness.
- another cheesy ford commercial featuring the idols running away from a crowd of fans (kids) to the music of "you really got me".
- the four sing as a group. perform a barry gibb medley. adorable.
- barry gibb performs. makes me long for this wonderful SNL sketch.
- the contestants panic as the results are read.
- lakisha cries (sad) and sings her last song.

contrary to the judges opinions, i actually enjoyed barry gibb week. i loved the songs. i loved the performances.

both blake and lakisha found themselves in the bottom two. moments before the results were revealed, simon predicted that lakisha would be going home. and low and behold, he was right.
blake's gonna have to step it up. although at this point, i love the three that are left.

next week: blake, jordin, and melinda will sing three (!) songs each. they sing a song of their choice, a song picked for them by the judges, and another selection from clive davis.

preview: tonight's american idol

phew! so thanks to usa today, it looks like the american idol contestants aren't necessarily singing disco songs which couldn't make me happier. especially since the contestants are singing TWO songs each. barry gibb will be mentoring the kids tonight.

here's what it looks like they'll be singing tonight:

blake lewis- "you should be dancing" and "this is where i came in"

jordin sparks- "woman in love" and "to love somebody"

melinda dolittle- "love you inside out" and "how can you mend a broken heart"

lakisha jones- "run to me" and "stayin' alive"

i'm a 'blaker girl' myself, so that's who i'll be rooting for.

recap: idol's double edged sword

last night it became clear that the women of of american idol were definitely the front runner's of the competition. after last night, the only male left standing was blake lewis (and deservedly so). phil stacey (the bald one) and chris richardson (justin timberfake) were voted off of the show. and if you read yesterday's idol recap, you'll know that i'm one happy camper, as those are the two that i wanted kicked out. in all seriousness, phil and chris weren't horrible. they weren't fantastic either. they gave "safe" performances. they didn't blow anyone out of the water with their voice (like lakisha) or reinvent herself every week (like melinda) or take huge risks (like blake).

so now it's down to four: lakisha, melinda, blake, and jordin. next week is disco night with barry gibb mentoring the kids. disco night is usually my least favorite of the competition (next to country night), but i have a feeling the four that are left will pull it off.

so goodbye bald guy and what's his face. in two years, nobody will even remember you were on american idol and you can go back to singing karaoke in your local bar on friday nights.

american idol recap: week 8

rock week finally arrived on american idol, which obviously means one thing...bon jovi? mock it if you will, but think of all the times that you're at a party or a bar and a bon jovi song comes on. everyone sings it. bon jovi songs get the crowd going. so of course, the american idol producers invited members of bon jovi to mentor the contestants. and the results? well, here's a recap:

first up, phil stacey. he continued his streak of luck when the judges showered him with high praise and compliments for the third week in a row. he's no dummy, and since country week, phil's tried to find songs that have a twang. so phil picked "blaze of glory" from young guns. he was actually pretty good and might actually stay in the competition.

next up was the cute and bubbly jordin sparks. last time jordin sang a rock song, she delivered a pretty solid rendition of pat benatar's "heartbreaker". so although it was a male rock song, bon jovi seemed like it might seem a good fit for her. well, bad news bears because the judges were anything but crazy about her performance. i will say that i was actually so worried she might get kicked off (especially since she could've maybe been kicked off last week), that for the first time in it's six seasons did i actually pick up my phone and vote for someone on american idol.

after jordin, we had lakisha. to be honest, she's kinda lost that charm in my eyes. i think she started off too strong at the beginning of the season with "and i am telling you", because since then, nothing that she's sang since has compared to that performance. but with that said, last night she came pretty close. her soulful rendition of "this ain't a love song" helped simon shed that tough exterior.in fact, she charmed the judges so much that simon actually grew a heart for about 10 seconds and asked her for a kiss. on the lips! despite the fact that lakisha planted one on simon, she's back on the good graces of the judges. i had dismissed her and thought it might be time for her to go home, but after last night, i think she redeemed herself and earned another chance.

then we had blake lewis, with a brand new darker 'do. i will admit that the way he used to fit in beat boxing into all of his songs got on my nerves. but then came tony bennett week or some crap and he realized you can't do it with every song. so i think that's when blake started becomign one of my favorites. but last night, he took a great risk by creating a very orignal arrangement to "you give love a bad name". well, it paid off. blake not only gambled big, but he won big in return getting smiles from all three judges. my favorite performance of the night.

next up chris richardson who performed "wanted dead or alive". he started at a disadvantage right away. he mentioned that chris daughtry performed the song last year, which automatically earned him comparisons. it sounded okay, but compared to all the other performers, it sounded too karaoke. i agree with simon that i'm not sure if it's enough to keep him in the competition for another week. my least favorite performance of the night.

lastly was melinda dolittle, who sang a newer bon jovi song. she went with "have a nice day". i'll admit that at the beginning of the competition, her surprised faces and humbling demeanor started getting a little annoying. but she has steadily gained the confidence she needs while maintining her grounded personality. add that with her awesome performances and you have a possible idol winner. had blake not gone out on such a limb, she would've been my favorite performance of the night.

my thoughts on who goes home tonight:

i WANT phil and chris to go home.

i THINK it will actually be chris and jordin.